The Government of Central African Republic

Central African Republic - Government

Based on the etymolgy of Central African Republic, it was self-descriptive name specifying the country's location on the continent; "Africa" is derived from the Roman designation of the area corresponding to present-day Tunisia "Africa terra," which meant "Land of the Afri" (the tribe resident in that area), but which eventually came to mean the entire continent. The Government system in this country is the presidential republic type and the different Administrative divisions includes: 14 prefectures (prefectures, singular - prefecture), 2 economic prefectures* (prefectures economiques, singular - prefecture economique), and 1 commune**; Bamingui-Bangoran, Bangui**, Basse-Kotto, Haute-Kotto, Haut-Mbomou, Kemo, Lobaye, Mambere-Kadei, Mbomou, Nana-Grebizi*, Nana-Mambere, Ombella-Mpoko, Ouaka, Ouham, Ouham-Pende, Sangha-Mbaere*, Vakaga

National symbols

Elephant; national colors: blue, white, green, yellow, red.

The flag

The National flag of Central African Republic has four equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, green, and yellow with a vertical red band in center; a yellow five-pointed star to the hoist side of the blue band; banner combines the Pan-African and French flag colors; red symbolizes the blood spilled in the struggle for independence, blue represents the sky and freedom, white peace and dignity, green hope and faith, and yellow tolerance; the star represents aspiration towards a vibrant future.

The National Anthem

Title	"La Renaissance" (The Renaissance)
Lyric/music	Barthelemy BOGANDA/Herbert PEPPER

note: adopted 1960; Barthelemy BOGANDA wrote the anthem's lyrics and was the first prime minister of the autonomous French territory

More about the government of Central African Republic

Constitution
Date of Independence	13 August 1960 (from France)
National holiday	Republic Day, 1 December (1958)
Legal system	civil law system based on the French model
International law organization participation	has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
History	Several previous; latest constitution passed by a national referendum on 30 July 2023 and validated by the Constitutional Court on 30 August 2023; note - the new constitution was proposed by President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, extended the presidential term from 5 to 7 years, removed term limits, and will allow President Touadéra to run again in 2025; opposition parties denounced the changes, claiming they were created to facilitate a "life precedency" for Touadéra
Amendments	Proposals require support of the government, two thirds of the National Council of Transition, and assent by the "Mediator of the Central African" crisis; passage requires at least three-fourths majority vote by the National Council membership; non-amendable constitutional provisions include those on the secular and republican form of government, fundamental rights and freedoms, amendment procedures, or changes to the authorities of various high-level executive, parliamentary, and judicial officials
Citizenship
Citizenship by birth	no
Citizenship by descent only	least one parent must be a citizen of the Central African Republic
Dual citizenship recognized	yes
Residency requirement for naturalization	35 years
Executive Branch
Chief of state	President Faustin-Archange TOUADÉRA (since 30 March 2016)
Head of government	Prime Minister Félix MOLOUA (since 7 February 2022)
Cabinet	Council of Ministers appointed by the president
Elections/appointments	president directly elected for 5-year term; election last held 27 December 2020 (next to be held in December 2025); constitutional referendum in July 2023 removed term limits and institutes 7-year terms; note - presidential and partial legislative elections were held on 27 December 2020; voting was disrupted in some areas, delaying the first round of legislative elections until 14 March 2021; constituencies that did vote on 27 December 2020 held runoff elections for their legislators
Election results	2020: Faustin-Archange TOUADÉRA reelected president in first round; percent of vote - Faustin-Archange TOUADÉRA (independent) 53.9%, Anicet Georges DOLOGUELE (URCA) 21%, other 25.1% 2015: Faustin-Archange TOUADÉRA elected president in the second round; percent of vote in first round - Anicet-Georges DOLOGUELE (URCA) 23.7%, Faustin-Archange TOUADÉRA (independent) 19.1%, Desire KOLINGBA (RDC) 12%, Martin ZIGUELE (MLPC) 11.4%, other 33.8%; percent of vote in second round - Faustin-Archange TOUADÉRA 62.7%, Anicet-Georges DOLOGUELE 37.3%
Legislative branch
Description	Unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (140 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote with a second round if needed; members serve 5-year terms)
Elections	Last held in December 2020 through July 2021 (next to be held 31 December 2025); note - on 27 December 2020, the day of first round elections, voting in many electoral areas was disrupted by armed groups; on 13 February 2021, President TOUADERA announced that new first round elections would be held on 27 February 2021 for those areas controlled by armed groups and the second round on 14 March 2021; ultimately, two additional rounds were held on 23 May and 25 July 2021 in areas that continued to suffer from election security problems
Election results	Percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MCU 63, MOUNI 9, URCA 7, MLPC 7, RDC 5, KNK 3, PATRIE 3, CDE 2, RDD 2, MDD 2, PGD 2, PAD 2, CANE 2, other 11, independent 20; composition - men 124, women 16, percentage women 11.4%; note - several members of other parties and independent candidates joined the MCU following the opening session of the National Assembly; as of 21 September 2021, the MCU held 86 seats
Judicial branch
Highest court(s)	Supreme Court or Cour Supreme (consists of NA judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 judges, at least 3 of whom are women)
Judge selection and term of office	Supreme Court judges appointed by the president; Constitutional Court judge appointments - 2 by the president, 1 by the speaker of the National Assembly, 2 elected by their peers, 2 are advocates elected by their peers, and 2 are law professors elected by their peers; judges serve 7-year non-renewable terms
Subordinate courts	High courts; magistrates' courts
Diplomatic representation in the US
Chief of mission	Ambassador Martial NDOUBOU (since 17 September 2018)
Chancery	2704 Ontario Road NW, Washington, DC 20009
Telephone	[1] (202) 483-7800
FAX	[1] (202) 332-9893
Email address and website	[email protected] https://www.usrcaembassy.org/
Diplomatic representation from the US
Chief of mission	Ambassador Patricia A. MAHONEY (since 8 April 2022)
Embassy	Avenue David Dacko, Bangui
Mailing address	2060 Bangui Place, Washington DC 20521-2060
Telephone	[236] 2161-0200
FAX	[236] 2161-4494
Email address and website	Https://cf.usembassy.gov/
National heritage
Total World Heritage Sites	2 (natural)
Selected World Heritage Site locales	Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park; Sangha Trinational Forest