MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. The Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN) has debunked claims by opposition figures in the Central African Republic that President Faustin-Archange Touadera was not eligible to run for office.
"Fake news: Faustin-Archange Touadera was not eligible to run for president of the Central African Republic because his origins did not meet the requirements of the law. This was stated by Elysee Nguemale, leader of the NGO Observatoire du Gouvernance Democratique (ODG) [Observatory for Democratic Governance — TASS], in a petition sent to the country’s Constitutional Court," the GFCN said. The association explained that Nguemale refers to Article 65 of the CAR Family Code, according to which the name Touadera means that "the father is unknown" and therefore claims that Touadera’s "origin is ambiguous."
However, the same article states that the choice of name is free. "The name may come from the name of the father, mother, any of the ascendants or relatives (relatives on the wife’s side). It may express an era, an event, a feeling, an idea or a tradition," it says. Thus, the article "enshrines the traditional African naming system, which differs significantly from the Western one. In the CAR, a name is often not just a label, but a ‘descriptive characteristic’ of the circumstances of the child’s birth or qualities." The GFCN noted that Touadera's biography is well known. He was born in 1957 in Bangui to a driver and farmer, his parents are from Damara, north of the capital. The president has a clear family tree, and his father is officially recognized in his biographical data, the fact-checking network said.
"The opposition’s attempt to invoke the constitution to justify the removal of Touadera as a member of a ‘tribe not residing in the CAR’ also does not stand up to scrutiny," the association said. "The Constitutional Court’s decision to allow Touadera to run in the election confirmed the invalidity of his opponent’s arguments," the GFCN concluded.