David Dacko - First Term As President

First Term As President

After the independence was achieved on August 13, 1960, Dacko became Provisional President of the Republic (August 14, 1960 – December 12, 1960), and then, with the active support of France against his rival Abel Goumba, the first president of the CAR (December 12, 1960 – December 31, 1965). In 1960 he also served as President of the Conference of Prime Ministers of Equatorial Africa.

Dacko began to consolidate his power soon after taking office in 1960. He retained the portfolio of Minister of Defense (August 17, 1960 – January 1, 1966) and Keeper of the Seals (August 17, 1960 – January 2, 1963) and amended the Constitution to transform his regime into a one-party state with a strong presidency elected for a term of seven years. On January 5, 1964 Dacko was chosen president in an election for which he was the only candidate. His seven year term (1964–1971), however, was cut short by a coup d'état carried out by his cousin, army commander Jean-Bédel Bokassa (see below).

During his first term as president Dacko significantly increased diamond production in the CAR by eliminating the monopoly on mining held by concessionary companies and decreeing that any Central African could dig for diamonds. He also succeeded in having a diamond-cutting factory built in the capital, Bangui. Diamonds eventually became the CAR's most important export and remain so today, even though half or more of the country's diamonds are smuggled out of the country. Dacko encouraged the rapid "Centralafricanization" of the CAR's administration, which was accompanied by growing corruption and inefficiency, and he expanded the number of civil servants, which greatly increased the portion of the national budget needed to pay salaries. The difficulty of securing enough revenues to pay a large number of bureaucrats who are often inefficient and corrupt has been a major problem for the CAR ever since.

Dacko was torn between his need to retain the support of France and his need to show that he was not subservient to France. In order to cultivate alternative sources of support and display his independence in foreign policy, Dacko cultivated closer relations with the People's Republic of China, for example. By 1965, however, Dacko had lost the support of most Central Africans and may have been planning to resign from the presidency when he was overthrown.