Bangui has new PM. Aims to stabilize for influx of tourists

Published on : Sunday, January 26, 2014

The Central African Republic’s new interim President Catherine Samba-Panza has named, a former official of the African Development Bank, as prime minister, state radio said on Saturday.
Samba-Panza, who took office two days ago, is trying to build an interim government to restore order to the former French colony after months of sectarian violence that has left thousands dead or homeless.
The mineral-rich country descended into chaos last March when armed Muslim groups known as Seleka seized power in a coup, unleashing a wave of killing and looting.
That triggered revenge attacks by Christian militia known as “anti-balaka”, or anti-machete, and fighting has escalated in recent days despite the presence of about 1,600 French troops and 5,000 African Union peacekeepers.
On Saturday, local Red Cross president Pastor Antoine Mbao Bogo said his staff had recovered four bodies in Bangui.
Youths wandered the streets armed with machetes and clubs in the mostly Muslim Miskine neighborhood, a Reuters witness said.
On Friday, Muslim former minister Joseph Kalite was hacked to death by machete-wielding militiamen in Bangui. At least nine others were killed when bands of people, some of them Christian groups, attacked and looted shops, witnesses said.
The violence has killed more than 2,000 since December, and forced about a million people – nearly a quarter of the population – to flee their homes. Things don’t seem to be improving aby time soon but the Andre Nzapayeke is making a sincere effort so far.