CAR president shuffles government

Bangui – Central African Republic President Catherine Samba Panza said on Saturday she would “reshuffle” her government amid continuing sectarian violence, more than three months after she came to power.

Samba Panza said in an interview that ministers in her government had to “make an assessment of their actions.

“Those who have stayed the course will remain, but those who have not, I will have to reshuffle,” Samba Panza said.

However, she did not give a timescale for when she might make any changes to her ministerial team.

Samba Panza, the country's interim president, came to power in late January 2014 after the ex-rebel leader whose March 2013 coup plunged the country into chaos was forced to step down.

After taking power, some of the rebels from the mainly Muslim rebel coalition Seleka went rogue, embarking on a campaign of killing, raping and looting.

The abuses prompted members of the Christian majority to form vigilante groups, unleashing a wave of brutal tit-for-tat killings that has left thousands dead, close to a million displaced.

The cycle of ethnic and religious violence has raised international concern the country was on the brink of genocide.

 
- AFP