1981 Central African Republic coup d'état

1981 Central African Republic coup d'état
Date 1 September 1981 Location Central African Republic Result Coup attempt succeeds. David Dacko is exiled. André Kolingba comes to power.
Belligerents
Central African Government Armed Forces loyalists	Armed Forces rebels Supported by: France[1][2]
Commanders and leaders
David Dacko	André Kolingba

Part of a series on the
History of the Central African Republic
Early history Trans-Saharan slave trade c. 1500–1600
Colonial period French Equatorial Africa    French Congo 1882–1910    French Chad 1900–1960    Ubangi-Shari 1903–1958    French Cameroon 1918–1960 Decolonization    Kongo-Wara rebellion 1928–1931    Brazzaville Conference 1944–0000    African Democratic Rally 1946–1958
Independence Bokassa period 1966–1979    Bokassa coup d'état 1966–0000    Central African Empire 1976–1979       Coronation of Bokassa I 1977–0000          Emperor of Central Africa Operation Caban 1979–0000    Operation Barracuda 1979–1981 Kolingba coup d'état 1981–0000 Patassé coup attempt 1982–0000
Current period General election 1993–0000 Heightened tensions 1993–1998    Bangui Peace Accords 1997–0000    United Nations Mission 1998–0000 Bush War 2004–2007    Kolingba coup attempt 2001–0000    Bozizé coup d'état 2003–0000 Civil War 2012–0000    Conflict under Djotodia 2013–2014       Fall of Bangui 2013–0000
Category Commons Portal
v t e

On 1 September 1981, General André Kolingba deposed President David Dacko of the Central African Republic in a bloodless coup while Dacko was away from the country traveling to an official state visit in Libya.^[3] The day after the coup a "Military Committee for National Recovery" (French: Comite Militaire pour le Redressement National, CMRN) was established and was led by Kolingba. The CMRN then suspended the constitution and limited political party activity.^[3]

Central African Republic specialists Richard Bradshaw and Carlos Fandos-Rius state that, in the 1981 coup, Kolingba "seized power with French support".^[1] Likewise, historian Brian Titley notes that the 800 French soldiers in the country had orders not to interfere.^[4] In 1991, DGSE head Pierre Marion admitted that the French military advisor Jean-Claude Mantion [fr] had played a role in the coup;^[2] Mantion had been stationed in the Central African Republic to serve as head of the Presidential Guard shortly before the coup took place, and retained this powerful position throughout the Kolingba regime.^[5][6]

Kolingba's military regime promised to hold election and get rid of corruption but over the next four years corruption increased and the CMRN repeatedly pushed back planned election until 1987. In 1982 the regime survived a coup attempt.^[3]