André Nzapayeké

André Nzapayeké
Prime Minister of the Central African Republic
In office 25 January 2014 – 10 August 2014
President	Catherine Samba-Panza (Transitional)
Preceded by	Nicolas Tiangaye
Succeeded by	Mahamat Kamoun
Personal details
Born	20 August 1951 Bangassou, French Equatorial Africa
Political party	Independent

Tunisia, 2006

André Nzapayeké (born 20 August 1951)^[1] was Prime Minister of the Central African Republic, in an interim capacity, from January to August 2014.^[2]

Early career

Nzapayeké was born on 20 August 1951 in Bangassou, French Equatorial Africa.^[1] The son of a pastor who also worked as a trader, he was a bright student who received a scholarship to study social anthropology at the University of Amsterdam.^[3] Nzapayeké worked in Central Africa in the development sector, studying many villages of the country. Later, he worked as a consultant, and also taught at the University. In the early 1990s, he was in the Security Council of the Government.^[1] He was briefly Minister of Rural Development under André Kolingba.^[3]

A technocrat, Nzapayeké rose to secretary-general of the African Development Bank and vice president of the Development Bank of Central African States from 2010 to 2012.^[1][4] Within the Development Bank, he worked on the implementation of the peace agreements between the various parties during the conflict in Sudan.^[1] He also had a job at the World Bank.^[5] He is a Christian.^[6]

Political career

He was appointed as Prime Minister in January 2014 during the 2012–14 conflict. His appointment followed that of President Catherine Samba-Panza and the resignation of Nicolas Tiangaye. Samba-Panza nominated him for the office, and he too was tasked with leading the country to the 2015 election.^[4] Nzapayeké was little-known in the Central African Republic at the time of his appointment.^[3] He said his first priority would be to stop the massacres and other atrocities within the country for months as the key step to restoring the writ of the state and then help the one million displaced persons.^[4]

I am going to be speaking with the different groups so that we immediately stop certain... atrocities being carried out in this country. We have to put a stop to all that quickly. There's a certain number of very clear actions the government is going to tackle starting this week. [I will] put a team in place that's going to deal with the question of national reconciliation. We have to tackle that quickly, it will make the security question easier. [We will seek help from] friends in the international community.^[4]

State radio announced Nzapayeké's resignation on 5 August 2014.^[2] The reason for his resignation was the breakdown in peace talks in Brazzaville.^[7] He was replaced by Mahamat Kamoun.^[8]

References

1. "André Nzapayéké, un technocrate à la tête du gouvernement de République centrafricaine" (in French). Radio France Internationale. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
2. "Central African Republic's PM, cabinet resign — state radio". Reuters. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
3. Sudan, Francois (10 February 2014). "Centrafrique : André Nzapayeké, Premier ministre sans portefeuille". Jeune Afrique (in French). Retrieved 5 November 2016.
4. "New CAR PM says ending atrocities is priority". aljazeera.com. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
5. Day, Christopher (August 2016). "The Bangui Carousel" (PDF). Enough Project. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
6. "Centrafrique: André Nzapayeké nommé Premier ministre" (in French). Centrafrique-Presse.com. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
7. "Bangui: André Nzapayeke justifie sa démission à la tête du gouvernement". Journal de Bangui (in French). 7 August 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
8. "CAR names new Prime Minister". APA. StarAfrica. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.