The World Watch Monitor reports…
The three top faith leaders of the Central African Republic, who have won international recognition for efforts to end its conflict, have pledged to work with Russians in order to foster reconciliation in CAR.
On 23rd August, they attended a one day meeting organised by Valery Zakharov, a Russian diplomat and security advisor to CAR’s President.
MEETING: (l to r) Valery Zakharov, Imam Oumar Kobine Layama, Rev Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga. PICTURE: World Watch Monitor.
During the meeting, the three – Rev Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, president of CAR’s Evangelical Alliance, Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Catholic Archbishop of Bangui, and Imam Oumar Kobine Layama, president of the Islamic Council – reiterated that CAR’s crisis is not primarily an interfaith clash; instead, they said, its roots lie in the struggle for political power.
Zakharov shares this view: “The root causes of the crisis are criminal and political, dictated by outside influences” he said, as CAR’s RJHD reports.
“If Russians are willing to cultivate frank relationships with [us three], we will use our relations to speak with the armed groups – Séléka and anti-Balaka – as we have always done, in order to raise awareness and get them to lay down their arms, to embark on a path of reconciliation and pacification”.
– Rev Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou.
CAR has been under a UN arms embargo since 2013 when Séléka rebels overthrew President François Bozizé. But Russia early this year obtained its partial lift, paving the way for it to supply CAR with light weapons, but also instructors to train the newly-restored army. Russian forces now also provide security for President Faustin-Archange Touadéra.
The Russian presence in CAR has polarised debates in media in the former French colony. Despite CAR’s independence in 1960, France has kept its strong influence and sees it as one of its main zones of influence in Central Africa.
Central African Republic has witnessed an upsurge of violence in recent months notably with attacks targeting churches and clerics in Bangui, the capital and Bambari, the second main city of the country. Since January, four Catholic priests were targeted, and three of them have lost their lives in various attacks. Security remains the key issue in CAR. The involvement of Russia in CAR has raised hope to see the national army being deployed across the country, which is largely occupied by armed groups.
Rev Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou is somewhat optimistic about Russian involvement, as he told World Watch Monitor: “If Russians are willing to cultivate frank relationships with [us three], we will use our relations to speak with the armed groups – Séléka and anti-Balaka – as we have always done, in order to raise awareness and get them to lay down their arms, to embark on a path of reconciliation and pacification”.
He recalled the role played by the three’s ‘religious platform’ which led to the deployment of UN peacekeepers in 2014. But he denounced the inertia and even complicity of certain UN contingents in the current crisis.
Guérékoyamé-Gbangou welcomed the first actions by Russians: their instructors have facilitated the deployment of units in Bangassou, Dékoa, and Kaga-Bandoro, towns which used to be controlled by armed groups – and where they didn’t face any resistance.
Russia is now involved in social and humanitarian activities: restoring and equipping hospitals, notably in the northern town of Birao, a predominantly Muslim region near the Sudan border. (This acted as headquarters for Séléka rebels, where they grouped before their offensive towards Bangui at the end of 2012. Séléka eventually overthrew the government in 2013).
Russia has fostered a new peace agreement between three ex-Seleka groups and one anti-Balaka leader, Maxime Mokom, in Khartoum on Tuesday, according to AFP.
The three Séléka groups are the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the Central African Republic (FPRC), led by Noureddine Adam; the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC), led by Ali Darassa; and the Central African Patriotic Movement (MPC), led by Mahamat Al-Khatim.
Rev Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, president of CAR’s Evangelical Alliance (right) with Valery Zakharov, a Russian diplomat and security advisor to CAR’s President. PICTURE: World Watch Monitor.
The meeting in the Sudanese capital unfolded in parallel to an official mediation effort led by the African Union (AU).
Guérékoyamé-Gbangou commented “We have arrived at a time where our relationships must benefit each other. Previous experiences have shown that some partners who pretend to help us, are interested only in exploiting the natural resources of our country, but are not ready to intervene even when people are dying before their eyes…We should give a chance to the Russians.
“If my house is burning, I won’t ask about the origins of the one who comes to help me to extinguish the fire…If other partners who were there before them think they can do better, they have to prove it”.
Guérékoyamé-Gbangou favours a meeting with Russian president Putin so as “to echo the suffering of the Central African people” as the three did with several countries – including France and the US – but also at the UN and in the Vatican.
In 2014, the three clerics sent a message to Putin via its Bangui embassy, to plead for CAR.
So co-operation between CAR and Russia is not new, he added, recalling that after independence, a number of CAR graduates trained in Russian schools to then return and serve in its administration. Russian was taught in secondary schools. Co-operation was only ended in the 1970s by former president Bokasssa.