Top Central African Republic opposition figure Anicet-Georges Dologuele has accused the state of “abuse of power” after he was stopped from leaving the country, reportedly over questions surrounding his citizenship status.
Dologuele, a former prime minister and a leading critic of President Faustin-Archange Touadera, said he was prevented from boarding a flight to Addis Ababa on Tuesday morning.
He was scheduled to attend a meeting of the African Union Peace Fund in Ethiopia, where he serves as chair of the board of directors.
According to Dologuele, immigration authorities blocked his departure on the grounds that he had lost his Central African citizenship, following a court ruling in October which stated that he was no longer a citizen due to his dual nationality with France at the time.
“The minister of the interior… has clearly decided that I was not entitled to a Centrafrican passport and that I was banned from leaving the country,” he said at a press conference in Bangui, describing the action as an “abuse of power by the state.”
The dispute over his citizenship comes after a politically sensitive period in which Dologuele renounced his French nationality in August in order to contest the December presidential election.
President Touadera was declared winner of that election with nearly 78 per cent of the vote, a result the opposition has strongly contested.
Dologuele, who came second in the race, rejected the outcome and alleged widespread electoral fraud, later filing an appeal.
A significant portion of the opposition boycotted the vote, which allowed Touadera to run for a third term after a constitutional change in 2023.
This is not the first time Dologuele has challenged presidential results, having also finished second in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, each of which were marked by allegations of irregularities.
The latest development adds to ongoing political tensions in the Central African Republic, where opposition figures continue to question the fairness of electoral processes and the independence of state institutions.
