Background
Ethnicity:
A member of the riverine Yakoma ethnic group, Kolingba
André-Dieudonné Kolingba was born on 12 August 1936 in Bangui.
Ethnicity:
A member of the riverine Yakoma ethnic group, Kolingba
André-Dieudonné Kolingba was born on 12 August 1936 in Bangui.
Kolingba joined the French military in 1954 and was transferred to the Central African army at independence in 1960. He became a sub-lieutenant on 1 October 1964, a colonel, and then a Brigadier General on 3 April 1973. As a battalion commander, he was named Technical Adviser to the Minister of National Defense, Veterans and War Victims on 1 March 1977 as well as Aide-de-camp of His Imperial Majesty Bokassa I. Then he served briefly as the CAR's ambassador to Canada — replacing Sylvestre Bangui — and the Federal Republic of Germany before being named Minister of in March 1979. When Emperor Bokassa was overthrown in 1979 and David Dacko was restored to power by the French, General Kolingba gained Dacko's favor and was made Army Chief of Staff in July 1981. He took power from President David Dacko in a bloodless coup d'état in 1981 and lost power to Ange-Félix Patassé in a democratic election held in 1993.