Suzan’s Column...

In the Central African Republic, Boganda is everywhere: on avenues, at the stadium, in the museum, in politics, and so on. But surprisingly, the circumstances surrounding his death in the explosion of his aeroplane — an assassination, in other words — have still not been clarified. All because the French, since 1959, have forbidden any investigation into it. ‘What did the white man say? That’s an order!’ But to go from there to thinking that the French, by preventing Central Africans from investigating, might have had a hand in it... is a leap the French diaspora took a long time ago. Another thing: walking around Bangui, you’d think you’d gone back to the days of Bokassa. If only because of those arches dating back to 1977. Just one international airport, just one university, just one administrative building (without a lift, built in the 1960s)... All of this dates back to the time of Bokassa. But who has done anything in nearly 50 years? No one. And to think that barely more than 10 per cent of the country has electricity! The roads are roads in name only, even though they are vital for a landlocked country like the Central African Republic. As for the institutions, they are subject to the autocrat of the moment. They are nothing more than rubber-stamp bodies for his whims (including his egotistical delusions: the Touadéra Prize, the Touadéra statue, the Touadéra Cup, etc., which will be swept aside by his successor, for he is not eternal). Moreover, he acts alone, without ever seeking the people’s opinion, as when he brings in Russian mercenaries. Welcome to the open-air prison! On that note, just ask Dologuélé what he thinks.

Thanks to the ‘boss’ for the corrections


By Susan CARTER-JONES | LNC

Date: 22 September 2026
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