Faustin-Archange Touadera, the discrete technocrat leader of the Central African Republic (CAR) who came into power in 2016 during a civil war, is the favourite to win a third mandate in Sunday’s presidential polls. Touadera, 68, a former prime minister with an academic background, is branded by his critics as “President Wagner” — referring to his dependence on Moscow and the Russian paramilitaries of that name. Since a change in the country’s constitution in July 2023 that abolished the two-term limit for presidents and extended their mandate from five to seven years, Touadera has sought to extend his rule over the poor but mineral-rich nation — facing accusations of wanting to be “president for life”. Although security has improved in CAR’s cities, fighting and attacks have continued in rural areas since 2020. The United Nations and NGOs say rebels, government soldiers and Russian mercenaries have committed crimes against civilians, while a UN peacekeeping force has not prevented abuses.- Peace-builder -Touadera’s supporters meanwhile see him as “the builder of peace”. He struck a controversial 2019 peace accord with 14 armed groups involved in the civil war, essentially bringing warlords into the government in return for the disarming of their militias. Lacking an electoral base before 2016, Touadera united the various groups and movements who rallied behind him, setting up a party from scratch in 2018, the United Hearts Movement (MCU).His second mandate proved equally uncertain. Rebels surrounded the capital Bangui in 2020 and threatened Touadera’s government, only to be thwarted by intervening Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group. Touadera has since continued attempts to disarm rebel groups. Two of the main rebel factions ratified a peace agreement with the government in April, and a third in November. But many similar past agreements have fallen apart. In a National Day speech on December 1, Touadera hailed “a peace that has returned, fragile but real.”- Shift to Russia -Before Wagner imposed its presence in the capital Bangui and mineral-rich regions, Touadera had gained an image as hard-working, competent and self-effacing at the helm of a failed state and a war-ravaged country. But feeling “abandoned”, he turned to Moscow and reinvented himself as a political animal, according to several regional experts.His government argues it had no choice but to turn to Russia following a strict UN arms embargo — lifted in July 2024 — while rebels continued to procure weapons.France pulled its last troops out of the CAR in December 2022, ending a continuous presence since the country’s independence in 1960. A roadmap aimed at re-establishing a “constructive partnership” between the two states was signed in Paris in April 2024.Touadera casts himself as a unifier, claiming achievements — largely funded by the international community — that range from the rebuilding of the army to free health care for women, and children under five.Education spending has risen and the government has made pay for civil servants more regular after many years of arrears and discontent.But he never fulfilled his promise to hold political dialogue before the December 28 elections, which some opponents have decided to boycott. “His governing style is to say ‘yes’ to everyone without deciding publicly,” said Charles Bouessel, a consultant at the International Crisis Group.
