(My answer on Quora)
It would be a close call between Idi Amin Dada and Jean-Bédel Bokassa. However I would give Bokassa the nod. He had more style. Both though were weird but even more so they were downright evil.
Bokassa was the Second President of the Central African Republic (CAR) , a position that he held between 1966 and 1976 having seized power in the famed Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état when he overthrew the regime of his cousin David Dacko.
On December 4th 1976, Bokassa proclaimed himself Emperor and had himself crowned in a ceremony a year later to that day.
However the coronation spectacle was no run of the mill affair. Bokassa was willing to bankrupt the country to replicate as best as possible the coronation ceremony of his hero Napoleon Bonaparte. The Central African Republic was to become the Central African Empire and he was its absolute monarch.
Bokassa’s official title was: His Imperial Majesty Bokassa the First, Apostle of Peace and Servant of Jesus Christ, Emperor and Marshal of Central Africa
Here are some pictures from the ceremony.
Source: The Irish Times
Source: swan and other songs
Source: Getty Images
However even before he became Emperor Bokassa I he was a notorious big spender. So much so that Captain Alexandre Banze, an ally who had assisted Bokassa in seizing power in 1966, was left with little choice but to call him out on this. Unfortunately this did not work out well for Banza who was arrested on suspicion of fermenting a coup, personally beaten to within an inch of his life by Bokassa himself and then sentenced to death by a military tribunal. He was eventually executed. In Bokassa’s CAR there would be only one voice.
Bokassa was a strict authoritarian. He was also concerned about morality (other people’s not so much his own). Begging was banned so was tom-tom playing during the day (go figure). All dances and bars would be monitored. However he did abolish female circumcision and put an end to polygamy and dowry payments. Yes there was a stopped clock there somewhere.
Meanwhile rumours circulated about a strange fetish for cannibalism (he was charged for this in 1987 and subsequently cleared).
On the foreign policy front he enjoyed a warm relationship with Muammar Qaddafi (always the favourite go to guy for despots), cozied up to Mao’s China and supplied France with their much needed Uranium. Both the US and the USSR found him unpredictable though as a Cold War ally. Despite these idiosyncrasies he still won medals and honours from no less than 16 countries.
Suffice it to say his regime was unsustainable. Free speech was repressed and corruption was endemic. Bokassa’s spending emptied the coffers. The economy began to take a turn for the worse with food prices rising. In January 1979 riots broke out and there was a massacre of civilians. All of this reached a head when school children refused to wear a uniform with Bokassa’s image emblazoned on it. The blow to his ego was severe and he responded with outer depravity killing around 100 school children and arresting many more
This heinous action was condemned worldwide. A French backed coup followed suit and Bokassa was forced to flee the country. The military seized power with Operations Caban and Barracuda forcing Bokassa to seek exile in the Ivory Coast.
His reign finally came to a close on the 21st of September 1979 and in 1980 he was sentenced to death in absentia. However Bokassa had accumulated so much personal wealth during his time in power that he could actually live in luxury abroad where he enjoyed the luxuries of a historic French chateau.
In 1986 he returned to the CAR (it was no longer known as the CAE) and faced a trial where he was accused of 14 illegal actions He was found guilty of all charges other than that of cannibalism. The overall trial was harrowing with some of the school children witnesses who had survived Bokassa’s mass actions testifying against the demagogue.
Two years later the death sentence was reduced to solitary life imprisonment. Later on this further changed to twenty years imprisonment. In 1993 he was released following a general amnesty. Three years later Bokassa, who had once declared himself the 13th Apostle dropped dead from a heart attack. Apparently he couldn’t cheat the celestial.
Despite his tumultuous rule though he enjoyed somewhat of a post-modern rehabilitation in his home country. In fact the CAR”s president François Bozizé (in 2010) actually called him a "a son of the nation recognised by all as a great builder". Just goes to show. History is indeed kind to some. His victims will beg to differ.
Sources: Ex-President Jean-Bedel Bokassa rehabilitated by CAR
No comments:
Post a Comment