Elisabeth Domitien

Elisabeth Domitien (* 1925 ; † April 26, 2005 in Bimbo ) was Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from 1975 to 1976 .

Political career

Domitien belonged to the Mouvement pour l'évolution sociale de l'Afrique noire (MESAN) party of the first Prime Minister Barthélemy Boganda even before the country gained independence from France in 1960 . She was related to Boganda, as well as to the later presidents David Dacko and Jean-Bédel Bokassa .

She later became Vice President of MESAN, which was now the country's unity party . President Bokassa, who had ruled authoritarian since 1966, appointed her Prime Minister on January 2, 1975, when the office was reinstated. She was the first woman to become head of government in an African state. Her relationship with the president cooled when she publicly opposed his plan to turn the country into a monarchy . She and her now third government were dismissed on April 7, 1976 and at the end of the year the president proclaimed himself Emperor Bokassa I. Her successor in office was the future President Ange-Félix Patassé .

Bokassa rehabilitated it in 1979, but his rule was ended by a coup by former President David Dacko on September 21, 1979. Domitien was arrested and charged for her temporary support for Bokassa. She was imprisoned for a period, and after her release in 1981, she was banned from any political activity and her property was confiscated.

Last years

President François Bozizé , who overthrew Patassé in 2003, appointed her to the national reconciliation commission that same year. Most recently she lived with three nephews in Bimbo near Bangui where she died in 2005. She survived her husband and only daughter. Although she is said to have been illiterate , she was considered a successful business woman. On May 10, 2005, she was commemorated in the Bangui Parliament in the presence of Bozizé.

See also

• List of female heads of state and government

Web links

• Article on the death of Domitiens, May 15, 2005 (French)