Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian

Jean Bedel Bokassa

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Clothing makes the man: (Above, from left) Uganda’s Milton Obote, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta and Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda look more restrained in 1967 than later African presidents. (Photo by KEYSTONE-FRANCE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
AMASUNZU

What your president’s style says about their politics

African leaders’ sartorial choices have been communicating their political orientations for centuries

  • Eric Mwine-Mugaju
4 min read
Inhabitants of the mainly Muslim PK5 neighbourhood in Bangui demonstrate in front of the headquarters of Minusca, the UN peacekeeping mission in the CAR. The country lacks appears to be under a sort of trusteeship. (Florent Vergnes/AFP)
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CAR’s brand of state failure is unique

One-size-fits-all solutions cannot fix the myriad problems facing the Central African Republic

  • Staff Reporter
8 min read
Heritage house: Central African Republic national museum director Abel Kotton faces a tough task to rehabilitate the ramshackle building that is home to thousands of historical artefacts.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

A broken museum, in a broken country: Meet the man trying to save CAR’s history

Abel Kotton’s job is to turn the national museum once again into a proud showcase of Central African history

  • Simon Allison
3 min read
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Strife-weary CAR nostalgic for bloody ’emperor’

In strife-torn CAR, many citizens have begun to long for the "good old days" of Jean-Bedel Bokassa, the emperor who became infamous for his brutality.

  • Jean-Pierre Campagne
4 min read