David Dacko - Overthrown By Bokassa

Overthrown By Bokassa

On the night of December 31, 1965 – January 1, 1966 General Jean-Bédel Bokassa carried out a successful coup d'état against Dacko and prevented the possible assumption of power by a rival, Colonel Jean Izamo, head of the national gendarme police force. Dacko, who belonged to the same Ngbaka ethnic group as Bokassa, was imprisoned, placed under house arrest in Lobaye, but then was released on July 16, 1969 and eventually named personal counselor of President Bokassa on September 17, 1976. When Bokassa's rule came under increasing criticism during the late 1970s, Dacko managed to leave for Paris where the French convinced him to cooperate in a coup to remove Bokassa from power and restore him to the presidency.