Central Africa Republic Court Disbands Presidential Reform Team Over Illegalities

The Supreme Court in the Central African Republic has dissolved the committee set up by the president, Faustin-Archange Touadera.

The president had set up the committee to execute his plans of amending the constitution to remove the presidential limit in order to give him the opportunity to run for a third term.

The Supreme Court while delivering the judgment on Friday said that the committee set up by the president is “unconstitutional,” and the decision of the court cannot be appealed.

“The Decree was not in compliance with the country’s constitution.

“The presidential decree establishing the committee responsible for drafting the new constitution and designating members of the committee are unconstitutional and are annulled,” Constitutional Court president, Daniele Darlan declared.

He also stated that the senate must be set up before a constitutional reform can take place.

Faustin-Archange Touadera, 65 was elected in 2016 to rule the country after decades of civil war and was re-elected in 2020 to continue his leadership even though the election was criticized for violence.

The committee was set up by the president in August after his party, the United Hearts Movement (MCU) during a “republican dialogue” failed to amend the constitution in March to allow him bid for a third term in office.

Civil Societies and opposition parties took the president to court and the apex court annulled the Decree and dissolved the constitution reform panel.

For a decade now, the Central African Republic (CAR) which gained independence from France in 1960 has been faced with violence that has displaced thousands of citizens out of its 4.8 million population. It is ranked one of the least developed countries in the world.