Fake news about the 2025 presidential election in the Central African Republic

On December 28, 2025, general elections began in the Central African Republic (CAR). Citizens of the country are electing a president, members of parliament, and representatives of local authorities. This event was preceded by various disinformation campaigns about the candidates. Next, we will refute one of the fake news stories.

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 Elysée Nguémalé, leader of the NGO Observatoire du Gouvernance Démocratique (ODG), in a petition sent to the country’s Constitutional Court.

GFCN explains: Nguémalé refers to Article 65 of the CAR Family Code, according to which the name Touadera means
that the father is unknown, “since his father is unknown,
his origin is ambiguous. His name in his native language means a child who was abandoned by his maternal uncles.”

Article 65 of the Family Code of the Central African Republic states: “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.”

Thus, this 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.

Touader’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 opposition’s attempt to invoke the constitution to justify the removal of Touader as a member of a “tribe not residing in the CAR” also does not stand up to scrutiny.

The requirements for presidential candidates are set out in Article 36 of the CAR Constitution, according to which they must be CAR citizens aged at least 35, own property in the country and have lived in the republic for at least one year, be mentally and physically healthy, of high moral character, etc. Among these requirements, there is no requirement regarding the candidate’s origin in the country’s basic law.

As a result, CAR Minister of Territorial Administration Bruno Yapandé described Nguémalé’s petition as intended to “create confusion among the public.” And the Constitutional Court’s decision to allow Touader to run in the election confirmed the invalidity of his opponent’s arguments.