André-Dieudonné Kolingba (12 August 1936 – 7 February 2010) was a Central African politician, who was the fourth President of the Central African Republic (CAR), from 1 September 1981 until 1 October 1993. He took power from President David Dacko in a bloodless coup d'état in 1981 and lost power to Ange-Félix Patassé in a democratic election held in 1993. Kolingba retained the strong support of France until the end of the Cold War in 1992, after which both internal and external pressure forced him to hold presidential elections which he lost.
His twelve-year term in office saw the growing influence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in decisions by donor-nations regarding financial support and management of the Central African state. Many members of Kolingba's ethnic group, the Yakoma people, obtained lucrative posts in the public, private and parastatal sectors of the CAR's economy during his era. This gave rise to growing tension between so-called "southerners" (including the riverine Yakoma) and "northerners" (including the savanna Gbaya) in the CAR which led to violent confrontations between these groups during the Patassé era (1993–2003).
Biography
Early life and education
André-Dieudonné Kolingba was born on 12 August 1936 in Bangui, the capital of the French colony of Oubangui-Chari in French Equatorial Africa. A member of the riverine Yakoma ethnic group, Kolingba (meaning "male Buffalo") joined the French military in 1954 and was transferred to the Central African army at independence in 1960. He became a sub-lieutenant on 1 October 1964, a colonel, and then a brigadier general on 3 April 1973. As a battalion commander, he was named technical adviser to the minister of national defense, veterans and war victims on 1 March 1977, as well as aide-de-camp of Bokassa. He then served briefly as the CAR's ambassador to Canada — replacing Sylvestre Bangui — and the Federal Republic of Germany before being named minister in March 1979. When Bokassa was overthrown in 1979 and David Dacko was restored to power by the French, general Kolingba gained Dacko's favor and was made army chief of staff in July 1981.
Overthrow of David Dacko
In September 1981, general Kolingba overthrew Dacko in the 1981 Central African Republic coup d'état. There has been considerable speculation about who supported Kolingba's seizure of power. It has been suggested that local French military advisers helped him carry out the coup without the authorization or knowledge of Socialist President François Mitterrand and his entourage (Delayan 1985; Kalck 2004). The French supported Kolingba until the fall of the Berlin Wall and the democratization movement in Africa during the late 1980s and early 1990s led to local, French and international pressure to hold presidential elections.
Ruling years
After overthrowing Dacko in 1981, Kolingba established a military committee for national reconstruction to rule the country, but in fact he ruled as a military dictator, more corrupt than brutal, until 1986, when he submitted a Constitution to a national referendum. The document was approved with an implausible total of 92 percent. Under its terms, Kolingba was automatically elected president for a six-year term. It also established the Central African Democratic Rally (Rassemblement Démocratique Centrafricain, RDC) as the country's only legal party. Parliamentary elections were held in 1987, in which voters were presented with a single list of RDC candidates. With all candidates effectively handpicked by Kolingba, he effectively held complete political control over the country.
The end of the Cold War in 1992 made Western nations less willing to tolerate anti-communist Third World dictatorships. Internal and external pressures eventually forced Kolingba to open up the regime. In March 1991 he agreed to share power with Edouard Frank, who he named prime minister. He also established a commission to make the constitution more democratic and pluralistic. In late 1991, the donor community (most notably a very vocal US ambassador) finally pressured Kolingba to hold free elections. These took place in 1992, assisted by the UN Electoral Assistance Unit and monitored by international observers. Kolingba finished dead last, with only 10 percent of the vote. In response, he had the constitutional council declare the election invalid. His presidential mandate was due to expire on 28 November 1992, but he carried out a "constitutional coup d'état" which extended his presidential term for another 90 days.