By Manuel Godsin
ON July 31, Egountchi Behanzin, a well-known Panafrican blogger, announced on his social networks that president Touadera of the Central African Republic had been poisoned and published a video in which he provided details about this claim.
The blogger states that an acquaintance of his, who works in a Paris hotel where prominent guests of the Olympics stayed, became a witness of the event. According to him, an ambulance arrived at the hotel where Faustin-Archange Touadera resided.
The medical personnel on the ground declared that there had been an attempt to poison president Touadera but fortunately it failed and the Central African leader's health was no longer in danger.
There are good reasons to suspect that it was the French security services who could have prepared an attack on the life of the Central African leader.
These are mainly related to the fact that Faustin-Archange Touadera did not accept certain conditions of bilateral cooperation imposed by Emmanuel Macron on his country.
As a reminder, Paris had resumed financial aid to the CAR as part of the warming of relations between the CAR and France. However, at the time the French president put forward an ultimatum by demanding to completely cease all relations between the CAR and Russia.
This also applied to Russia’s aid in the security and defence field by means of military specialists that train and support Central African government’s army in its fight against rebels and armed groups.
It is also worth noting that during a recent interview with a Central African channel, the French Ambassador to the CAR, Bruno Fouché, stated that France did not support the current policies of the Central African government.
This was perhaps supposed to come as a final warning to president Touadera to rethink his strategy with France and change his decision, to which he initially responded negatively.
Indeed, many Central African officials, media outlets and social media users had previously opposed the reestablishment of relations with France, because they understood that there was nothing good to expect from the former colonial power.
Today, it is obvious that these warnings were well-founded, and that the same scenario may play out for all those who fall out of grace with the current French authorities.
* Dr Manuel Godsin is a writer and researcher in political science and political strategy. He obtained a doctorate in international relations and strategic affairs from the University of Bergen in Norway and a Master’s degree in International Crisis Management from the University of Oslo.