Government of the Central African Republic and armed groups finalized the signing of the Global Peace Agreement wit armed groups in the country on Wednesday in a ceremony in the capital Bangui after an agreement was reached in Sudan.
Representatives of 14 armed groups active in the Central African Republic (CAR) arrived from Khartoum to finalize the signing of the peace agreement which was reached on Saturday after two weeks of negotiations.
In his speech, CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra said, “In ensuring respect for the people’s will, I pledged to fully support the process of dialogue to achieve a just and lasting peace among all the constituents of the Central African people.”
The agreement was concluded under the auspices of the African Union and the United Nations.
UN Special Representative Parfait Onanga- Anyanga said, “You live divided from the four horizons your beautiful and great country, the Central African Republic, but you have undoubtedly returned to Bangui a single people, stronger and determined together to meet the challenges of a common destiny. This is the hope we nurture.”
For his part, the President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, explained why this peace agreement was to be signed in Bangui.
was initialled the day before by all stakeholders in Khartoum, in the presence of the President of the Central African Republic, and the President of Sudan, Omar el-Bashir.
The Central African Republic descended into violence in 2012 with the appearance of Muslim rebel groups gathered in coalition called Seleka. The Seleka were expelled from Bangui a few months after taking power in 2013 by groups called Anti-Balaka, mostly Christian. The intervention of France in December 2013, as part of the Sangaris operation, then the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping mission, helped to stop the cycle of reprisals, but the former rebels of the Seleka still hold most of the territory~MINUSCA
