View source for André Kolingba

{{Short description|Central African politician}}
{{refimprove|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox President
| name                = André-Dieudonné Kolingba
| image               = 
| order               = 4th [[President of the Central African Republic|President of the<br>Central African Republic]]
| term_start          = 1 September 1981
| term_end            = 22 October 1993
| primeminister       = {{ubl|''Vacant'' (1981–1991)|[[Édouard Frank]]|[[Timothée Malendoma]]|[[Enoch Derant Lakoué]]}}
| predecessor         = [[David Dacko]]
| successor           = [[Ange-Félix Patassé]]
| birth_date          = {{dob|df=y|1936|8|12}}
| birth_place         = [[Bangui]], [[Ubangi-Shari]]
| death_date          = {{dda|df=y|2010|2|7|1936|8|12}}
| death_place         = [[Paris]], France
| party               = [[Central African Democratic Rally|RDC]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Mireille Kolingba|Mireille Kotalimbora-Kolingba]]|1969}}
| signature           = Kolingba signature 1986.jpg
| children            = [[Désiré Kolingba]]
}}
'''André-Dieudonné Kolingba''' (12 August 1936 – 7 February 2010) was a [[Central African Republic|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 [[1981 Central African Republic coup d'état|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.<ref name="dictionary1"/><ref name=kłosowicz/> This gave rise to growing tension between so-called  "southerners" (including the riverine Yakoma) and "northerners" (including the savanna [[Gbaya people|Gbaya]]) in the CAR which led to violent confrontations between these groups during the Patassé era (1993–2003).

In 2001, Kolingba took part in a [[2001 Central African Republic coup attempt|failed coup attempt]] against Patassé, after which he temporarily fled to [[Uganda]] to evade trial.<ref name="unsc"/><ref name="uganda"/>

==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]].<ref>{{cite book |page=139 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mfecAAAAQBAJ |title=Britannica Book of the Year 2011 |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc |year=2011 |isbn=9781615355006}}</ref> A member of the riverine [[Yakoma people|Yakoma]] ethnic group, Kolingba (meaning "male [[African Buffalo|Buffalo]]") joined the French military in 1954 and received military training at the ''École de formation des officiers ressortissants des territoires d'outre-mer'' (EFORTOM) at [[Fréjus]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boukari-Yabara |first1=Amzat |last2=Tchuisseu |first2=Ghislain Youdji |date=2023 |editor-last1=Borrel |editor-first1=Thomas |editor-last2=Boukari-Yabara |editor-first2=Amzat |editor-last3=Collombat |editor-first3=Benoît |editor-last4=Deltombe |editor-first4=Thomas |title=Une histoire de la Françafrique: L'empire qui ne veut pas mourir |publisher=[[Éditions du Seuil|Seuil]]|location=Paris |pages=149 |chapter=La fabrique des nouvelles élites africaines |isbn=9782757897751}}</ref> He was transferred to the Central African army at independence in 1960. As a military officer, he also worked at [[Radio Centrafrique|Radio Bangui]], where he became a host at the magazine of the Central African Armed Forces and a classical music program and later was promoted to co-director. While working at the radio, he met his future wife, [[Mireille Kolingba |Mireille Kotalimbora]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zembrou |first1=Felix Yepassis |title=De radio Bangui à radio Centrafrique : 60 ans déjà |url=https://www.centrafriqueledefi.com/pages/biographies-histoire/de-radio-bangui-a-radio-centrafrique.html |website=centrafriqueledefi.com |publisher=Centrafrique le Defi |access-date=20 January 2024}}</ref>

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 [[Jean-Bédel Bokassa|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, Kolingba gained Dacko's favor and was made army chief of staff in July 1981.

===Overthrow of David Dacko===
In September 1981, Kolingba overthrew Dacko in [[1981 Central African Republic coup d'état|a 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).{{Page needed|date=January 2025}} Central African Republic specialists Richard Bradshaw and Carlos Fandos-Rius also state that Kolingba "seized power with French support".<ref>Bradshaw and Fandos-Rius, ''Historical Dictionary'', 83.</ref> According to historian Brian Titley, the 800 French soldiers in the country had orders not to interfere.<ref name="titley"/> In 1991, [[Directorate-General for External Security|DGSE]] head [[Pierre Marion]] admitted that the French military advisor {{ill|Jean-Claude Mantion|fr}} had played a role in the coup.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Andriamirado |first1=Sennen |last2=Barrada |first2=Hamid |last3=Sada |first3=Hugo |date=1991 |title=L'Ancien chef des services secrets se met à table |journal=[[Jeune Afrique]] |issue=12 |pages=40–55}}</ref>

The French went on to support 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 [[1986 Central African constitutional referendum|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. [[1987 Central African parliamentary election|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. His regime kept political opponents, for example [[Abel Goumba]], under close surveillance and excluded them from formal politics.<ref name="titley">{{cite book |last=Titley |first=Brian |date=1997 |title=Dark Age. The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa |location=Montreal |publisher=[[McGill-Queen's University Press]] |page=161-162 |isbn=0773516026}}</ref>

Kolingba's government favored fellow [[Yakoma people|Yakoma]] to hold important administrative, financial and military posts.<ref name="dictionary1">{{cite book |last1=Bradshaw |first1=Richard |last2=Fandos-Rius |first2=Juan |date=2016 |title=Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic |location=Lanham |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |page=4 |isbn=9780810879911}}</ref> This led to the majority of key positions being taken up by Yakoma people.<ref name=kłosowicz>{{cite journal |last=Kłosowicz |first=Robert |date=2016 |title=Central African Republic: Portrait of a collapsed state after the last rebellion |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24920246 |journal=[[African Studies (journal)|African Studies]] |issue=42 |pages=33–52 |jstor=24920246 |access-date=18 January 2025}}</ref> Although disproportionate Yakoma influence already dated back to the [[Ubangi-Shari|colonial era]] when they worked for Europeans and had access to French education,<ref name="dictionary1"/> [[Amnesty International]] has stated that "nepotism became institutionalized" under Kolingba.<ref name="amnesty"/>{{rp|4}} His years in office further saw the return of [[Jean-Bédel Bokassa]] to the Central African Republic. After the latter was tried and sentenced to [[Capital punishment|death]] in 1987, Kolingba decided to commute this to a [[Life imprisonment|life sentence]] in 1988.<ref name="dictionary2">Bradshaw and Fandos-Rius, ''Historical Dictionary'', 36.</ref>

With regards to international politics, the country's existing ties with [[France]] were maintained or even strengthened. Jean-Claude Mantion, the [[Service de documentation extérieure et de contre-espionnage|SDECE]] and [[Directorate-General for External Security|DGSE]] officer who was implied in the 1981 coup by Marion, had been installed at the head of the Presidential Guard under Dacko shortly before the coup took place. Mantion maintained this position throughout the entirety of the Kolingba era. This led him to be described as a "[[proconsul]]" and as "the president of President Kolingba", implying he was even more powerful than Kolingba himself.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Borrel |first1=Thomas |last2=Thomas |first2=Yanis |date=2023 |editor-last1=Borrel |editor-first1=Thomas |editor-last2=Boukari-Yabara |editor-first2=Amzat |editor-last3=Collombat |editor-first3=Benoît |editor-last4=Deltombe |editor-first4=Thomas |title=Une histoire de la Françafrique: L'empire qui ne veut pas mourir |publisher=[[Éditions du Seuil|Seuil]] |location=Paris|pages=476 |chapter=L'Afrique francophone dans la nasse militaire française |isbn=9782757897751}}</ref><ref>Titley, ''Dark Age'', 181.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Malagardis |first=Maria |date=2016 |title=Hollande rattrapé par l'histoire |url=https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2013/12/04/hollande-rattrape-par-l-histoire_964276 |magazine=[[Libération]] |access-date=18 January 2025}}</ref>

The repression of [[Opposition (politics)|opposition]] under the Kolingba regime backfired: by 1990, the opposition had united in an alliance, the ''Comité de coordination pour la convocation d’une conférence nationale'' (CCCCN).<ref name="dictionary2"/> Internal and external pressures gradually 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 and elements in the French government) finally pressured Kolingba to hold free elections. These took place in 1992, assisted by the [[United Nations|UN]] Electoral Assistance Unit and monitored by international observers. Kolingba finished last, with only 10 percent of the vote. In response, he had the constitutional council declare the election invalid.

Kolingba's 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. At multiple occasions throughout 1992, the government took violent action against protesters and carried out [[Extrajudicial killing|extrajudicial executions]]. These included the beating to death of [[Alliance for Democracy and Progress (Central African Republic)|ADP]] politician Jean-Claude Conjugo and the killing of a pregnant woman (Hermine Yakite) on her way to hospital to give birth after she resisted attempts to commandeer her car.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1 January 1994 |title=Amnesty International Report 1994 - Central African Republic |url=https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/amnesty/1994/en/26581 |website=[[Amnesty International]] |access-date=18 January 2025}}</ref><ref name="dictionary2"/>

===Election of Patassé===
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2025}}
On 3 February 1993, Kolingba established an interim organ, the [[National Provisional Political Council of the Republic]] (Conseil National Politique Provisoire de la République). On 28 February 1993, Goumba, by now leader of the opposition [[Democratic Forces for Dialogue]] (Concertation des Forces Démocratiques), announced President Kolingba was no longer president. Unwilling to give in, Kolingba remained in his post but the group of local donor representatives (GIBAFOR), notably from the USA and France, forced him to [[1993 Central African general election|hold proper elections]]. The same team which the UN Electoral Assistance unit had provided for the earlier election, and which Kolingba's government caused to fail, was brought in to give its support. Kolingba came in fourth, with only 12 percent of the vote - well short of a spot in the runoff. Ange Patassé won the presidency in the second round on 19 September 1993. When Kolingba turned over the presidency to Patassé a month later, it marked the first (and to date only) time since independence when an incumbent president peacefully surrendered power to the opposition.

===Involvement in 2001 coup attempt===
On the night of 27-28 May 2001, [[2001 Central African Republic coup d'état attempt|a coup attempt]] against President Patassé took place, but failed. Two days later, Kolingba claimed responsibility for the attempted coup through [[Radio France Internationale]] and demanded that Patassé "resign and hand over power to him".<ref name="unsc"/><ref name="amnesty">{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=2002 |title=Central African Republic: Refugees flee amid ethnic discrimination as perpetrators go unpunished |url=https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/RelatedRecords/CR2008_02917.PDF |website=[[Amnesty International]] |access-date=19 January 2025}}</ref>{{rp|7}} Patassé reacted by [[Demotion|demoting]] Kolingba and four other officers to the rank of [[Private (rank)|private]]. On June 1, Kolingba called on the other coup plotters to lay down arms and attempted to negotiate with Patassé, which the latter refused. Shortly afterwards, weapons were found in Kolingba's residence.<ref name="unsc">{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=2 July 2001 |title=Third report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on the situation in the Central African Republic and on the activities of the United Nations Peace-building Support Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA) |url=https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/444218?ln=en&v=pdf |website=[[United Nations Digital Library]] |publisher=[[United Nations Security Council]] |page=1-2 |access-date=19 January 2025}}</ref>

Kolingba fled to [[Kampala]], [[Uganda]], to evade trial. He was found guilty ''[[Trial in absentia|in absentia]]'' by the Central African criminal court and sentenced to [[Capital punishment|death]]. 21 of Kolingba's associates, including 3 of his sons, also received a death sentence.<ref name="uganda">{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=30 August 2002 |title=Kolingba seeking temporary asylum in Uganda |url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2002/08/30/kolingba-seeking-temporary-asylum-uganda |website=[[The New Humanitarian]] |access-date=19 January 2025}}</ref><ref name="amnesty"/>{{rp|7}}

===Final years and death===
Patassé was overthrown in [[2003 Central African Republic coup d'état|a March 2003 coup]] by [[François Bozizé]], who declared an amnesty for all those involved in the 2001 coup attempt. Kolingba finally returned to Bangui on 5 October 2003 during the last days of a National Conference (''Dialogue National'') which Bozizé sponsored to promote reconciliation and reconstruction of the country. On 7 October 2003, Kolingba attended the conference and spoke to the delegates, publicly apologizing for the excesses committed during his rule as well as his role in the 2001 coup attempt.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=7 October 2003 |title=Former leader Andre Kolingba apologises to nation |url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2003/10/07/former-leader-andre-kolingba-apologises-nation |website=[[The New Humanitarian]] |access-date=19 January 2025}}</ref> He then left for Paris on 2 November 2003 for a prostate operation. Kolingba died there on 7 February 2010.<ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100207/wl_africa_afp/centrafricapoliticsfrance Former Central Africa president dies: party] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102114840/http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100207/wl_africa_afp/centrafricapoliticsfrance |date=January 2, 2016 }} [[Yahoo! News]]. Retrieved 2010-02-07.</ref>

==Awards and family==
Kolingba married [[Mireille Kolingba|Mireille Kotalimbora-Kolingba]] in 1969, and the couple had twelve children.<ref>Bradshaw and Fandos-Rius, ''Historical Dictionary'', 456.</ref><ref name=brmuseum>{{cite news |first= |last= |title=Mireille Kotalimbora-Kolingba |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/AUTH228274 |work=[[British Museum]] |publisher= |date= |access-date=2023-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805195133/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/AUTH228274 |archive-date=2023-08-05 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=getty>{{cite news |first= |last= |title=Mireille Kolingba et François Mitterrand |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/fran%C3%A7ois-mitterrand-et-mireille-kolingba-femme-du-pr%C3%A9sident-news-photo/965988702 |work=[[Getty Images]] |publisher= |date=1984-12-13 |access-date=2023-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805195428/https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/fran%C3%A7ois-mitterrand-et-mireille-kolingba-femme-du-pr%C3%A9sident-news-photo/965988702 |archive-date=2023-08-05 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Kolingba was named officier de l'Ordre de l'Opération Bokassa (Officer of the Order of the Operation Bokassa) on 1 December 1971, officier de l'Ordre de la Médaille de la Reconnaissance Centrafricaine (Officer of the Order of the Medal of Central African Gratitude) on 1 January 1972, chevalier de l'Ordre du Merite Postal (Knight of the Order of Postal Merit) on 1 December 1972, commandeur (Commander) (1 January 1975) and dignité de Grand-Croix (Grand Cross) (1 December 1981) de l'Ordre du Mérite Centrafricain (Central African Order of Merit).

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{commons category}}
*{{cite book|last=Kalck|first= Pierre|title= Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic|location=Metuchen, & London|publisher= The Scarecrow Press|year= 2004}}
*Delayen, Julie Anne. "Origins and Causes of Military Rule in the Central African Republic." M.A. thesis, University of Florida, 1985.
*{{cite book|last=Titley|first= Brian|title= Dark Age: The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa|location= London & Montreal|publisher= McGill-Queen's University Press|year= 1997}}
*{{cite book|last=Saulnier|first= Pierre|title= Le Centrafrique: Entre mythe et réalité|location=Paris|publisher= L'Harmattan|year= 1998}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[David Dacko]]}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowr|[[President of Central African Republic]]}}|years=1981–1993}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ange-Félix Patassé]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{CAR Presidents}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolingba, Andre}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Bangui]]
[[Category:People of French Equatorial Africa]]
[[Category:Yakoma people]]
[[Category:Central African Democratic Rally politicians]]
[[Category:Heads of state of the Central African Republic]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the Central African Republic to Canada]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the Central African Republic to West Germany]]
[[Category:French Army soldiers]]
[[Category:Central African Republic military personnel]]
[[Category:Leaders who took power by coup]]
[[Category:Central African Republic exiles]]
[[Category:1980s in the Central African Republic]]
[[Category:1990s in the Central African Republic]]