The former President of the Central African Republic (CAR), François Bozizé, is in exile in Bissau at the request of the Community of Central African States (CEMAC), said sources of the Guinean government. François Bozizé, 76, arrived in Bissau last Thursday, on a special flight from Chad, where he had been since 2021.
According to several analysts, Bozizé, a Christian, was leading, from Chad, a coalition of rebels trying to overthrow the current regime in CAR, led by Félix Archange Touadera. Bozizé had ruled CAR since 2003, when he overthrew Ange Felix Parasse in a coup, until he was also overthrown in another coup by rebels led by Michel Djotodia, a Muslim, in 2013.
Since then, the CAR, one of the poorest countries in the world, has been plunged into crisis and coup attempts, with Bozizé suspected of being one of the main destabilizers.
Portugal and other countries are part of a United Nations blue helmets force, MINUSCA, which is trying to keep the peace in that country. Guinean government sources said that several African countries have interceded with the president of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who agreed to give asylum to Bozizé “for humanitarian reasons.
The same sources told the media that Bozizé is living in a house in the center of Bissau.