Beyond the bang-bang: Reporting from the front lines of peace. This article is part of our peacebuilding coverage, reporting on how atrocities can be prevented, how societies can be made more resilient, and how peace can be sustainably built.
BANGUI
At least 100,000 people have fled their homes in Central African Republic as a rebel coalition calling for the resignation of the president launches attacks around the county, throwing into question almost two years of peace efforts.
The capital city, Bangui, has come under fire and major towns are occupied by the coalition of some of CAR’s strongest rebel groups, which formed shortly before December elections won by President Faustin-Archange Touadéra but contested by the opposition.
By Reuters Staff
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BANGUI (Reuters) - More than 14% of polling stations in the Central African Republic failed to operate during Sunday’s presidential and legislative election due to armed rebels who attacked voters and barred electoral staff, the electoral commission said on Monday.
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Around 800 out of a total 5,408 polling stations nationwide did not open, Theophile Momokouama, an executive of the electoral authority, told a news conference in Bangui.
“There were localities where voters were brutalized, threatened with death. The electoral staff were forbidden to deploy on the ground,” Momokouama said.
The diamond- and gold-rich nation of 4.7 million has struggled to stabilise due to a successive waves of militia violence since 2013 that have killed thousands and forced more than a million from their homes.
UNICEF Central African Republic Flash Update, 15 January 2021
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Context and humanitarian situation
In the run-up to the 27 December presidential and general elections and following the invalidation of former president Francois Bozizé’s candidacy by the Constitutional Court, a new coalition of a number of armed groups - Coalition des Patriotes pour le Changement (CPC) – was formed, asking for the elections to be postponed.
The CPC launched an offensive from the West towards Bangui on the 18th of December, and others from the East and North in the following days. The national army, the MINUSCA’s peacekeepers and bilateral allies have resisted the CPC progression. Still the coalition has managed to attack and/or occupy a number of cities and towns. These include Bossangoa, Bossembele, Yaloke, Boali, Mbaiki, Boda, Beloko, Dekoa and Bouar in the West, and Bambari, Grimari,
Attacks on Health Care Monthly News Brief - December 2020
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Cameroon
As reported on 10 December 2020: In Bamenda town, Mezam department, Northwest region, the provincial government reportedly suspended partnerships between an INGO and Santa Maria Soledad Catholic Hospital Bamenda, as well as other health facilities across the region. The government stated that the reason for suspending the INGOs partnerships was that the Ministry of Public Health was awaiting “the definition of the framework of activities”. Source: Mimi Mefo Info
26 December 2020: In Bambui township, Tubah sub-division, Northwest region, members of the Cameroon Armed Forces stormed the Tubah District Hospital, killing a patient and bike rider who was transporting the patient to hospital. Source: Mimi Mefo Info