CAR’s Touadéra Wins Election Again, Deepening Africa’s Trend of Extended Presidencies

Central African Republic’s  President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has secured a third term in office after provisional results from last month’s presidential election showed him winning an outright majority, extending his rule in a country where constitutional change has become a familiar route to political longevity.

Touadéra, 68, won 76 percent of the vote, according to results announced late on Monday by the national election authority. His closest challengers, former prime ministers Anicet-Georges Dologuélé and Henri-Marie Dondra, trailed far behind with 15 percent and about 3 percent respectively. Both men have rejected the outcome, calling for the vote to be annulled over what they described as widespread irregularities and fraud. Dologuélé said on Friday that there had been “a methodical attempt to manipulate” the election, accusations the government has denied.

The result was widely anticipated. The main opposition coalition, the Bloc Républicain pour la Défense de la Constitution (BRDC), boycotted the poll entirely, arguing that the conditions for a free and fair election no longer existed after a controversial 2023 constitutional referendum removed presidential term limits. That change cleared the way for Touadéra to run again and has become the focal point of criticism from opposition figures who say it confirms his intention to remain in power indefinitely.

Touadéra campaigned heavily on security, a potent message in a country that has been gripped by conflict for more than a decade. Since rebels seized power in 2013 and ousted then-president François Bozizé, the Central African Republic has relied increasingly on foreign military support to stabilise the state. A 2019 peace deal with 14 armed groups reduced large-scale fighting, though six factions later withdrew, and violence has never fully disappeared. Compared with the 2020 election — when rebel attacks forced hundreds of polling stations to shut — voting on December 28 passed without major incident. 

Still, analysts caution that the calm may be misleading. “Armed groups have not disappeared. They have just been incorporated into the system,” said Nathalia Dukhan of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, noting that several former rebel leaders now hold government positions.

Touadéra’s extended rule places him firmly within a growing pattern across the continent, where constitutional engineering has become a subtler alternative to overt repression. From Cameroon’s Paul Biya, who removed term limits in 2008 and remains in office at 92, to leaders who rewrite or reinterpret constitutions to reset the clock, the effect is the same: democratic rotation is hollowed out without the spectacle of mass arrests or suspended elections. Touadéra did not jail opposition figures en masse or violently suppress rivals, but the absence of dramatic crackdowns does little to soften the democratic implications of a presidency with no clear endpoint.

The election also underscores the deepening role of foreign powers in African political survival. Touadéra has leaned heavily on Russia for security, enlisting Wagner mercenaries and Rwandan troops to repel rebel advances and protect his government. The Central African Republic was among the first African states to host Wagner, a model later adopted by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. In return, Russia has gained access to valuable resources, including gold and diamonds, and Touadéra has publicly credited Moscow with saving the country’s democracy during its most fragile moments.

At the same time, the president has signalled that his alliances are not exclusive. He has recently said he would welcome Western partners willing to invest in CAR’s lithium, uranium and gold reserves, reflecting a broader trend in which African governments navigate competing external interests from Russia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Europe. What emerges is not ideological alignment so much as transactional politics, where security guarantees and investment flows shape domestic power arrangements.

For all the talk of stability, the foundations remain fragile. Incorporating armed actors into the government may buy temporary calm, but it leaves unresolved questions about accountability, civilian trust and the future of political competition. As Touadéra embarks on a third term enabled by undemocratic constitutional manipulation, the Central African Republic joins a growing list of states where elections continue to take place, but democratic choice is increasingly constrained — not by tanks on the streets, but by rewritten rules and reinforced incumbency.