Cyriaque Samba-Panza is a Central African politician, public official, and diplomat. Samba-Panza has held several ministerial and diplomatic positions throughout his career, particularly under former

presidents President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *''Præsidenten ...

André Kolingba André-Dieudonné Kolingba (12 August 1936 – 7 February 2010) was a Central African politician, who was the fourth President of the Central African Republic (CAR), from 1 September 1981 until 1 October 1993. He took power from President Davi ...

and

François Bozizé François Bozizé Yangouvonda (born 14 October 1946) is a Central African Republic, Central African politician who was List of heads of state of the Central African Republic, President of the Central African Republic from 2003 to 2013. He was th ...

. ''

Jeune Afrique ''Jeune Afrique'' (English: ''Young Africa'') is a French-language pan-African weekly news magazine, founded in 1960 in Tunis and subsequently published in Paris by Jeune Afrique Media Group. It is the most widely read pan-African magazine. It o ...

'' has described him as a "well-known political figure" within the country. Samba-Panza, the husband of former President

Catherine Samba-Panza Catherine Samba-Panza (; born 26 June 1954) is a Central African politician who served as Transitional President of the Central African Republic from 2014 to 2016. She was the first woman to serve as head of state in the Central African Republ ...

, also served as the inaugural First Gentleman of the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

during her presidency from 2014 to 2016.

Biography

Samba-Panza had close ties with a number of public officials, notably former Central African Prime Ministers Jean-Pierre Lebouder and Enoch Derant Lakoué. He also served as a government minister several times, especially within the governments of André Kolingba and François Bozizé. In 1987, Samba-Panza was appointed Secretary of State for Planning, Statistics and International Cooperation. He also served as

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

for Prime Minister Enoch Derant Lakoué from February 1993 to October 1993. He was deputy minister for economic planning under President

and Minister of Procurement under President

until his ouster during the

Central African Republic Civil War The Central African Republic Civil War is an ongoing civil war in the Central African Republic (CAR) involving the successive governments, rebels from the former ' coalition, the Anti-balaka militias, and various foreign and international fo ...

. Additionally, Cyriaque Samba-Panza held the position of Vice President of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(PSD). In 1998, he married

, who later became President of the Central African Republic in 2014. He held the position of the first First Gentleman in the country's history from 2014 until 2016. Cyriaque Samba-Panza is retired from politics, as of 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samba-Panza, Cyriaque Living people Date of birth unknown Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown First ladies and gentlemen of the Central African Republic Government ministers of the Central African Republic Social Democratic Party (Central African Republic) politicians Central African Republic diplomats