Name: Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Title: The military ruler of the Central African Republic from January 1, 1966 until his overthrow as Emperor on September 20, 1979.
Birth: February 22, 1921
Death: November 3, 1996
Region:.
Religion / Political: Catholic. After a meeting with Colonel Gadaffi of Libya, Bokassa converted to Islam and changed his name to Salah Eddine Ahmed Bokassa. Converted back to Catholicism
Main interests:
Notable ideas: In September 1976 he dissolved the government and replaced it with the Conseil de la Révolution Centrafricaine. On December 4, 1976, at the MESAN congress Bokassa declared the republic a monarchy, the Central African Empire. He issued an imperial constitution, converted back to Catholicism and had himself crowned Emperor Bokassa I in a lavish ceremony on December 4, 1977. Bokassa attempted to justify his actions by claiming that creating a monarchy would help Central Africa “stand out” from the rest of the continent, and earn the world’s respect. Over $20 million was spent on the coronation, but despite generous invitations, no foreign leaders attended the event. Many thought Bokassa was insane, and compared his egotistical extravagance with that of Idi Amin.
Works: On January 1, 1966, with the country in economic turmoil, Bokassa overthrew the autocratic Dacko in a coup d’etat, and assumed power as president of the Republic and head of the sole political party, the Mouvement pour l’évolution sociale de l’Afrique Noire (MESAN). Bokassa abolished the constitution of 1959. In April 1969 there was an attempted coup, which gave Bokassa an excuse to implement even tougher reforms to consolidate his power. In March 1972 Bokassa made himself President for Life. He survived another coup attempt in December 1974 and an assassination attempt in February 1976.
Though it was claimed that the new Empire would be a constitutional monarchy, no significant democratic reforms were made, and suppression of dissenters remained widespread. Torture was said to be especially rampant, with allegations that even Bokassa himself occasionally participated in beatings.
