Cécile Guéret

Cécile Guéret
Mayor of Bangui
In office
18 February 2000 – 22 May 2003
Preceded byJoseph Bendounga
Succeeded byJean-Barkès Gombé-Ketté
Personal details
Born1954

Cécile Guéret-Séreguet (born 1954) is an activist and politician in the Central African Republic. She served as mayor of Bangui from 2000 to 2003.[1]

A trade unionist and women's rights advocate, she was previously president of both the General Union of Central African Workers and the feminist organization OFCA.

Career

Labor and feminist activism

Guéret joined the Central African labor movement in 1979 and became a prominent leader.

As a member of the national bureau of the Union of Central African Workers (USTC), she was arrested and held without trial on July 9, 1991, for her union activity under the regime of President André Kolingba. She became president of the General Union of Central African Workers (UGTC) in 2000. Guéret's labor activism included traveling throughout the country to encourage women workers to organize.[1][2][3][4]

Her feminist activism led to her being named president l’Organisation des Femmes de Centrafrique (OFCA) in 2015.[5][6] That same year, she was appointed to the preparatory commission of the Bangui National Forum by President Catherine Samba-Panza.[1]

Mayor of Bangui

Guéret was named mayor of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, by President Ange-Félix Patassé in February 2000, joining only a handful of women who had reached that level of office in the country.[2][7] She served as mayor for three years, until 2003, when President François Bozizé took office and appointed his nephew Jean-Barkès Gombé-Ketté [fr] in her place. Guéret was imprisoned for a few months but eventually released.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Bradshaw, Richard. Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic. Fandos-Rius, Juan, 1971- (New ed.). Lanham, Maryland. ISBN 978-0-8108-7991-1. OCLC 930059134.
  2. ^ a b Marsaud, Olivia (2002-03-19). "Au nom du Maire". Afrik.com (in French). Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  3. ^ "Rapport où le comité demande à être informé de l'évolution de la situation - Rapport No. 281, Mars 1992". International Labour Organization (in French). March 1992.
  4. ^ Bayalama, Sylvain (1991). "Pluralism and Political Change in Central Africa". Africa Today. 38 (3): 66–71. ISSN 0001-9887. JSTOR 4186762.
  5. ^ "Ouverture du symposium des dfemmes centrafricaines a Bangui". UNFPA Central African Republic (in French). 2016-10-06. Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  6. ^ Murphy, Christina (2015-03-16). "Weekly Media Monitoring report for the Central African Republic". Concordia University. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  7. ^ AFP (2000-12-22). "Police, Troops Deploy Ahead of Demo in Central African Republic". Al Bawaba. Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-01-15.