Emperor of Central Africa

Emperor of Central Africa
Empereur de Centrafrique
Imperial
Imperial coat of arms
Bokassa I
Details
Style	His Imperial Majesty
Formation	4 December 1976
Abolition	21 September 1979
Residence	Renaissance Palace, Bangui

Emperor of Central Africa (French: Empereur de Centrafrique) was the title used by Jean-Bédel Bokassa (as Bokassa I) from 4 December 1976 until his deposal in a French coup in September 1979. Bokassa, who had already ruled the Central African Republic (CAR) as a military dictator since taking power in the 1966 coup d'état, was officially crowned on 4 December 1977 in a lavish ceremony that was estimated to cost the Central African Empire US$20 million (equivalent to $101 million in 2023). Although nominally a constitutional monarch, in practice Bokassa ruled with absolute power. For all intents and purposes, the country was still a military dictatorship, as had been the case with the CAR.

Bokassa I attempted to justify his actions by claiming that creating a monarchy would help Central Africa "stand out" from the rest of the continent, and earn the world's respect.^{[citation needed]} The coronation consumed one third of the nation's annual budget and all of the French aid that year; France also supplied substantial material support to the ceremony from both public and private sources.^[1] Despite generous invitations, no foreign leaders attended the event, although delegations were present, such as Robert Galley and René Journiac [fr] for France.^[1]

His rapprochement to Muammar Gaddafi and his widely publicized repression of internal dissent (culminating in the 1979 Ngaragba Prison massacre) created a rift between Bokassa and the French. The latter decided to depose him through a coup by intelligence service SDECE, codenamed Operation Caban, which took place on 19-20 September 1979. Former president David Dacko was reinstalled and abolished the imperial title.