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| President Idriss Deby of Chad (R) shakes hands with Central African Republic new elected President Faustin Archange Touadera (L) at the presidential palace in N'djamena on Febuary 24 2016. |
"The hardest task comes now, the rebuilding of the country in unity, peace, for sustainable development," his onetime rival Enoch Derant Lakoue told AFP. Touadera in a recent speech told Central Africans he felt the weight of their expectations on his shoulders.
"Your confidence encourages me urgently to take the actions needed to pick up our country, so that it becomes a prosperous, just and brotherly state," he said. "Please believe that I'm assessing the weight of the task that you have just confided to me."
A teacher-turned-politician who won over 60% of the vote against ex-premier Anicet-Georges Dologuele, Touadera himself served as prime minister during the 10-year reign of Francois Bozize, whose ouster in 2013 triggered the latest strife.
The 58-year-old takes over a country rich in natural resources but mired in biting poverty from a transitional regime supported by international peacekeepers, notably deployed by former colonial power France, and the United Nations.
Despite its mineral potential, including gold, CAR "lost its state revenues which were siphoned off by armed groups who effectively turned themselves into customs agents and tax officials and whatever else," Lakoue said.
After a surprise election win, the former maths teacher now Central African Republic's president-elect, Faustin-Archange Touadera, faces the daunting task of setting back on its feet a nation crippled by three years of sectarian violence.
The three-year spiral of violence between Muslim and Christian militias that left thousands dead and displaced more than 400 000 people disrupted farming, transport and public services in one of the planet's poorest nations.
"The hardest task comes now, the rebuilding of the country in unity, peace, for sustainable development," his onetime rival Enoch Derant Lakoue told AFP.
Touadera in a recent speech told Central Africans he felt the weight of their expectations on his shoulders. "Your confidence encourages me urgently to take the actions needed to pick up our country, so that it becomes a prosperous, just and brotherly state," he said.
"Please believe that I'm assessing the weight of the task that you have just confided to me." A teacher-turned-politician who won over 60% of the vote against ex-premier Anicet-Georges Dologuele, Touadera himself served as prime minister during the 10-year reign of Francois Bozize, whose ouster in 2013 triggered the latest strife.
The 58-year-old takes over a country rich in natural resources but mired in biting poverty from a transitional regime supported by international peacekeepers, notably deployed by former colonial power France, and the United Nations.
Despite its mineral potential, including gold, CAR "lost its state revenues which were siphoned off by armed groups who effectively turned themselves into customs agents and tax officials and whatever else," Lakoue said.
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