Size: 23.5×15.5cm./9.2×6.1inch.
Weight: 517gr./18.2oz.
Year: 1976
 
 
Book made in France, 1976. Book about the Central African Republic’s leader at the time, Bokassa. The title of the book reads:”Philosophy of Operation Bokassa”.
Jean-Bédel Bokassa (1921-1996) was a Central African statesman and soldier and fought in the army of the Free French during World War II. After the war he fought as a soldier of the French army in Indochina (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) and in Algeria. He reached the rank of captain and was one of the highest ranking African officers in the French army.
On January 1, 1966,Bokassa was in a coup and declared himself president and prime minister. One of his first measures as president was the expulsion of all Chinese people. Bokassa grew into a dangerous dictator, comparable to Idi Amin in Uganda. Nevertheless, he was still committed to the well-being of the population and increased diamond production to build schools and hospitals.
Political opponents were sentenced to death through public executions and sometimes even fed to wild animals. The regime of Emperor Bokassa I became increasingly grim. In May 1979, Amnesty International accused Bokassa of cannibalism. According to Amnesty International, he allegedly consumed the flesh of political opponents. He is said to have served not only political opponents, but also schoolchildren who had protested against the compulsory wearing of a school uniform.
Bokassa denied that as a religious Christian he would practice cannibalism and that he would ever harm children. However, his then cook stated during his trial in 1987 that Bokassa was indeed guilty of cannibalism. After the accusation of cannibalism, France and the US, which until then supported Bokassa, withdrew from the regime. He was taken into custody, tried and sentenced to death again. In 1988 the sentence was commuted to life in prison. In 1993, President André Kolingba granted him amnesty.