The head of the Armed Forces in the troubled country of the Central Africa Republic has been dismissed by President Michel Djotodia in an attempt by the president to curb the fighting which hit the country since Saturday and has claimed more than 100 lives.
State Radio announced General Ferdinand Bombayake as the new replacement for Jean-Pierre Dolle-Waya. Mr. Dolle-Waya was appointed by Michel Djotodia after the Seleka rebels ousted Francis Bozize as president.
President Michel Djotodia was the leader of the Seleka rebels and led an insurgency that ousted former president Francis Bozize.
Local reporters say Calm returned on Tuesday after fierce clashes between government forces and pro-Bozize fighters in Bossangoa.
Bossangoa is the hometown of ousted president Francis Bozize and is about 300 km north of the capital Bangui.
General Bombayake was said to be the head of security for former president Ange Felix Patasse, who was also ousted in coup d’état led by Francis Bozize.
Presidential spokesman Guy Simplice Kodegue told reporters in a media briefing in the capital that the change at the top hierarchy of the Army will help bring the situation under control.
“The change at the head of the army today is linked to the current situation in the country’s north and the president’s desire to bring some corrections in the security sphere, an estimated 100 people had been killed in the fighting in Bossangoa and nearby Bouca but we hope the situation will change’’, he said.
The United Nations has warned that the Central Africa Republic could become a failed state and the tendency that it could slip back into civil war his very high if nothing is done by the international community.
According to official United Nations figures, one third of the country’s 4.6 million people need assistance with food, shelter, healthcare or water and as many others are leaving in a deplorable condition.
The Central Africa Republic has been hit by a series of rebellions since independence from France in 1960.
There are large deposits of minerals including gold and diamonds but decades of conflict and mismanagement have left its people among one of the world’s poorest people.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
[adrotate group=”15″]
