Highlights:
The death toll sparked by the Sunday 13th December referendum in the Central African Republic (CAR) has risen to 5 according to the Red Cross in Bangui.
The clashes were characterized by heavy artillery of rocket launchers and machine guns in the Muslim majority PK-5 District in Bangui.
Summary:
A referendum conducted in Central African Republic (CAR) on Sunday 13th December with the aim of ending the sectarian conflict was marred by violence that claimed the lives of 5 people and injured at least 20 people according to the Red Cross Society in Bangui.
The violence involved rocket missiles and machine gun in the Muslim dominated PK-5 district in Bangui. UN peacekeepers in collaboration with French soldiers mounted flashpoint district on Monday December 14th to allow the voters to complete voting.
The referendum has received a lot of resistance both form the Christian Anti-balaka and Muslim Seleka force which had threatened to block the vote.
The referendum vote was seen as a test run for the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections slotted December 27th to end the more than two years of sectarian war of Christians and Muslims. The violence has continuously caused the elections to be postponed amid international pressure to hold them and establish a fully pledged government for the people by the people.
The proposed constitution is set to limit the presidential term to 2 years and fight institutional corruption and put a restriction to the armed militias in the country. The militias; specifically the Muslim Seleka force ousted the Francois Bozize in March 2013 plunging the country chaos and violence.
