2004 chronology of events

A selected chronology of events in the Central African Republic (CAR) during 2004. January 1 Jan: Four people are wounded by gunfire when a soldier "inadvertently" shoots into a crowd hailing Monique Bozize, wife of CAR leader Francois Bozize, in a suburb of the capital, Bangui. Full report 12 Jan: The minister in charge of the government's secretariat, Zarambeaud Assingambi, announces that Prime Minister Celestin Gaombalet will head an eight-member inter-ministerial committee appointed by CAR leader Francois Bozize to usher in democracy before January 2005. Full report 13 Jan: The government establishes an armed protection unit, known as the Brigade Mixte d'Intervention et de Verification, to guard against the exploitation of forests in the country. The unit is also mandated to fight corruption and fiscal fraud in the forestry sector. Full report 15 Jan: The national water utility, Sodeca, resumes distribution of safe drinking water in the town of Bossangoa, where its equipment was looted or damaged during a six-month rebellion that ended on 15 March 2003. Full report 15 Jan: France donates 46 military vehicles and equipment, worth US $3.2 million, for use by the army and the gendarmerie. The donation, part of France's effort to improve security in its former colony, includes communication equipment for the vehicles. Full report 16 Jan: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) begins distribution of livestock farm inputs, day-old chicks and pig and rabbit sires for breeding purposes to some 7,500 farmers affected by the six-month rebellion. Full report 21 Jan: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) ends its family reunification programme in refugee camps in southern Chad, where about 41,000 people from CAR had been living since March 2003. The 81 non-accompanied children registered with the ICRC rejoined their families in CAR either by their own means or under the ICRC programme. Full report 23 Jan: Tests at the Pasteur Institute's polio laboratory in the capital, Bangui, confirm a case of "wild" polio that was detected in the town of Bossembele, 157 km north of Bangui, three years after the last reported case in the country. Full report 28 Jan: FAO begins distributing vegetable and other seed crops as well as farming tools to some 3,780 farmers who were affected by the instability that followed the May 2001 coup attempt by former Central African Republic leader Andre Kolingba. Full report February 5 Feb: The government approves a US $13-million disarmament, demobilisation and reinsertion (DDR) programme, proposed by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and targeting some 7,565 former combatants. Full report 16 Feb: A 12.7-million-franc CFA ($24,660) physiotherapy centre for the physically challenged is inaugurated in Dekoa, a town 259 km northeast of Bangui. Full report 20 Feb: The UN World Food Programme (WFP) begins a two-year effort to rid primary school children of parasites in the provinces of Ombella Mpoko, Lobaye, Kemo and Nana Grebizi. Full report 22 Feb: The Special Humanitarian Adviser of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Ramiro Lopes Da Silva, arrives in Bangui for a three-week humanitarian assessment mission in war-affected areas. Full report 23 Feb: A 20-million-franc CFA ($39,000) provincial drug supply centre has been inaugurated in the town of Bossembele, 157 km northwest of Bangui. Full report March 1 March: Deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide arrives in Bangui and is given temporary asylum. Full report 1 March: The first phase of an anti-polio immunisation campaign, covering six provinces, takes place: 70.95 percent of children in Lobaye Province are immunised. Full report 5 March: The governments of CAR and the People’s Republic of China sign a $2-million, interest-free loan agreement to help Bangui overcome its financial difficulties. Full report 9 March: The Ministry of Health and affiliated partners begin a massive anti-meningitis immunisation drive in the northwestern province of Ouham, where an outbreak of the disease was reported. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) reports that by mid-March 40,000 people were vaccinated. Full report April 6 April: The government deploys 200 soldiers to the provinces of Kemo, Nana Grebizi, Ouham and Ouham Pende, north and northwest of Bangui, to fight highway bandits. The soldiers completed six months of military training, financed by France, before embarking on their mission. Full report 22 April: The FAO and the government sign an agreement under which FAO will provide $269,321 to enable 5,400 war-affected farmers to resume their activities. FAO Programme Officer Etienne Ngounio-Gaba says the move is aimed at reducing the risk of food insecurity in the provinces of Ouham, Ouham Pende and Kemo, where farming was affected by a six-month rebellion that ended on 15 March 2003. Full report 25 April: CAR’s leader Francois Bozize agrees to pay Chadian fighters who joined his forces during his October 2002-March 2003 rebellion. A government official who requested anonymity tells IRIN on 27 April that each fighter received the local equivalent of $1,000. Full report May 10 May: Government health officials begin door-to-door polio immunisation campaigns in the northern provinces of Bamingui-Bangoran and Vakaga. Full report 11 May: The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) donates obstetrical equipment worth $18.2 million to hospitals, which were looted during rebellion from October 2002 to March 2003. The hospitals are in the towns of Bossangoa, Bozoum, Mongoumba, Grimari and Bambari. Full report 24 May: Bozize appoints 30 members of the Mixed Independent Electoral Commission to supervise presidential and parliamentary polls. Full report June 17 Jun: Health officials in the CAR report an outbreak of Hepatitis E in three neighbourhoods of Bangui, as well as an outbreak of a deadly form of "wild polio" in the northern prefecture of Mambere Kadei Full report July 7 Jul: The UN Security Council calls on the international community to provide aid to ensure the success of the transitional process. Full report 26 Jul: The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank approve $8.5 million in post-conflict emergency aid to the Central African Republic for the first time since the October 2002 rebellion. Full report August 7 Aug: A weeklong door-to-door anti-polio drive ends with approximately 3,000 children vaccinated. Full report 11 Aug: A nationwide campaign begins to increase voter awareness about general elections scheduled for early 2005. Full report 18 Aug: Officials from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) meet to discuss the re-opening of the two countries' border. Full report 23 Aug: The Global Fund announces a $25 million grant for HIV/AIDS patients to get anti-retroviral treatment at affordable prices for the next five years. Full report 26 Aug: The governments of the DRC and CAR, as well as the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), sign an agreement allowing some 10,000 DRC refugees in CAR to be repatriated. Full report 28 Aug: The chairman of the electoral commission, Jean Willibiro-Sako, announces the election timetable: a referendum on the draft constitution on 28 November; parliamentary and presidential elections in early January 2005; a new elected government by March 2005. Full report September 1 Sept: President Bozize dismisses his cabinet and names a new team in which most of the old ministers are retained, including Prime Minister Celestin-LeRoy Gaombale. Full report 22 Sept: MSF and the CAR government embark on a two-year project to provide low-cost malaria treatment in the remote eastern province. Full report 17 Sept: Countrywide registration of voters begins with the Independent Mixed Electoral Commission setting up around 5,411 electoral posts nationwide. Full report October 22 Oct: A UNHCR protection officer says the voluntary repatriation of some 10,000 Central African refugees from the DRC has begun. Full report 23 Oct: Voter registration ends despite several problems, including the disappearance of thousands of voter-registration cards. Full report 27 Oct: Thousands of Bangui residents whose homes were swept away by flash floods begin receiving emergency relief aid from the local and international Red Cross. Full report November 7 Nov: A referendum on CAR’s constitution is postponed from 28 November to 5 December. Full report 21 Nov: A three-day nationwide anti-polio immunisation campaign begins. It targets children aged up to five years. Full report 20 Nov: A nationwide awareness campaign to inform the public of a referendum on the CAR’s constitution begins. Full report December 5 Dec: CAR citizens go to the polls to vote for a post-transition constitution one day after President Bozize appoints the members of the country's Transitional Constitutional Court. Full report 7 Dec: A court of appeal acquits former Prime Minister Jean-Edouard Koyambounou of corruption. Full report 7 Dec: President Bozize signs a decree setting 30 January as the date for presidential and parliamentary elections. Full report 11 Dec: President Bozize announces that he will contest presidential elections, due in January 2005, as an independent candidate. Full report 14 Dec: President Bozize postpones presidential and parliamentary elections to 13 February 2005. Full report 20 Dec: Results from the 5 December referendum are announced, with voters overwhelmingly approving a new constitution. Full report