Jean-Serge Bokassa

Jean-Serge Bokassa
Minister of the Interior
In office2016 – 13 April 2018
PresidentFaustin-Archange Touadéra
Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts, and Culture
In office22 April 2011 – 3 February 2013
PresidentFrançois Bozizé
Born (1972-02-25) 25 February 1972 (age 52)
Bangui
HouseBokassa
FatherBokassa I
MotherJoelle Aziza Eboulia
OccupationPolitician

Jean-Serge Bokassa (born 25 February 1972) is a Central African politician who served in the government of the Central African Republic as Minister of the Interior between 2016 and 2018. Previously he was Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts, and Culture from 2011 to 2013 and was member of the National Assembly from 2005 to 2011. He was a presidential candidate in the 2015 and 2020 elections. He is a son of Bokassa I, who ruled the Central African Empire from 1966 to 1979.

Life and career

Born in Bangui on 25 February 1972, Jean-Serge was a son of Bokassa and Joelle Aziza Eboulia (1955–2001).[1] When his father became Emperor of the Central African Empire on 4 December 1976, Jean-Serge, along with his siblings, became a Prince with the style Imperial Highness.[2] He was a pupil at a Swiss boarding school when his father was overthrown in 1979. As a result, he was taken out of the school and along with other family members went into exile in Gabon.[3] The family eventually returned from exile. While speaking warmly of his father, saying that he was a loving family man and "a patriot" who was the victim of "character assassination by media", he has described Bokassa's creation of a monarchy as "indefensible".[3]

In the 2005 elections Bokassa was elected to the National Assembly for the second Mbaïki district. He served in the Assembly until 2011.[1] Under President François Bozizé, Bokassa was appointed as Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts, and Culture on 22 April 2011. He served in that post until 3 February 2013.[1] In the December 2015 presidential election, he stood unsuccessfully as a presidential candidate obtaining around 6,5% of the votes.[4] Subsequently he backed the candidacy of Faustin-Archange Touadéra for the second round, held in February 2016. Touadéra won the election, and after taking office he appointed Bokassa to the government as Minister of the Interior, Public Security and Territorial Administration on 11 April 2016.[5] In a cabinet reshuffle under Prime Minister Simplice Sarandji in September 2017 he lost the portfolio of Public Security. On 13 April 2018 he was sacked by presidential decree of his portfolio of Territorial Administration and a successor was not directly named.[4][6] As reasons for his dismissal were given frequent absence from cabinet meetings and official ceremonies. Reports were however that Bokassa and his family were at odds with the government over the use of Berengo, the former presidential complex and mausoleum of his father, by the Russian Wagner Group from early 2018.[4][6][7] He ran as a presidential candidate in the 2020 presidential election but withdrew his candidacy on 22 December 2020.[8]

See also

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ a b c Richard Bradshaw; Juan Fandos-Rius (27 May 2016). Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 130–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7992-8.
  2. ^ "Jean-Bedel Bokassa Genealogy". Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  3. ^ a b Thomson, Mike (2009-01-02). "'Good old days' under Bokassa?". BBC. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  4. ^ a b c "RCA: limogeage de Jean Serge Bokassa, ministre de l'administration du territoire" (in French). Radio France Internationale. 25 April 2018. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021.
  5. ^ Vincent Duhem, "Centrafrique : ce qu’il faut retenir du nouveau gouvernement dévoilé par Touadéra", Jeune Afrique, 13 April 2016 (in French).
  6. ^ a b Mehler, Andreas (17 July 2020). "Central African Republic in 2018". A Decade of Central African Republic. BRILL. pp. 101–113. doi:10.1163/9789004436008_011. ISBN 9789004436008. S2CID 241567146.
  7. ^ Mathieu Olivier (19 February 2023). "Jean-Serge Bokassa : « Le jour où Wagner m'a refoulé de l'ancien palais de mon père »" (in French). Jeune Afrique. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023.
  8. ^ Geraldine Boechat (25 December 2020). "CAR: six opposition candidates ask for postponement after Jean-Serge Bokassa's withdrawal". Medafrica Times. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021.
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