Jeanne-Marie Ruth-Rolland (née Rolland) (17 June 1937 – 4 June 1995) was a Central African politician, social worker and teacher. She is regarded as the first female African presidential candidate.

Political career

Ruth-Rolland began her career as the supervisor for the education system of the French territory of

Ubangi-Shari Ubangi-Shari () was a French colonial empire, French colony in central Africa, a part of French Equatorial Africa. It was named after the Ubangi River, Ubangi and Chari River, Chari rivers of the Central African Republic, rivers along which it w ...

in 1956 and the supervised 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 ...

national education system following independence from France in 1960, continuing to teach until 1964. Following this she was employed as a social worker, helping street children, and as the head of army social services in the

Central African Armed Forces The Central African Armed Forces (; FACA) are the armed forces of the Central African Republic and have been barely functional since the outbreak of the Central African Republic Civil War, civil war in 2012. Today they are among the world's wea ...

, leaving the forces with the rank of battalion chief. Ruth-Rolland became an advisor to the government in 1979 and later was appointed as the Minister for the Promotion of Women's Status. During this time she worked heavily with street children and was nicknamed "Aunt Ruth", a name which continued to be used throughout her life. Ruth-Rolland was the president of the Central African

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

. During this time she founded and lead the

Diamonds Affair and imprisonment

As head of the Red Cross, Ruth-Rolland would later find herself at the centre of a political scandal known as the

Diamonds Affair The Diamonds affair, known in France as "l'affaire des diamants", was a political scandal in the 5th French Republic. In 1973, the French Minister of Finance, future president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, was offered two diamonds from the Presiden ...

. In 1980, French President

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...

was criticised for previously accepting diamonds from self-styled emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa several years earlier. In order to defend himself, Giscard d'Estaing claimed to have sold the diamonds and donated the proceeds to the Central African Red Cross. Giscard d'Estaing expected then-President

David Dacko David Dacko (; 24 March 1930 – 20 November 2003) was a Central African politician who served as the first President of the Central African Republic from 14 August 1960 to 1 January 1966 and as the third President of the Central African Repub ...

to confirm the story. However, as head of the local Red Cross society, Ruth-Rolland publicly denied the French claims. Ruth-Rolland was quickly dismissed from her post in what she described as a ''"coup de force"'' by Dacko. In 1981

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 ...

became president of the Central African Republic, and in October 1983, Kolingba ordered the arrest of Ruth-Rolland for her denouncement of the embezzlement of government funds by social affairs minister Gaston Gambor and water and forests minister Sébastien Guipi. Ruth-Rolland's subsequent detainment at a police station was opposed by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

. In August 1987 Ruth-Rolland was jailed for three years by a Special Jury for Political Matters for her criticism of Kolingba's corrupt government (officially "incitement"). Although released two-months early in September 1989, she was arrested again in December that year for refusing to make way for the presidential entourage. She was then detained at the National Security Company paramilitary camp until April 1991.

Foray into electoral politics

The following year, Ruth-Rolland was a candidate in the first multiparty elections and was elected deputy for the seat of

Bakouma Bakouma is a sub-prefecture in the prefecture of Mbomou in Central African Republic. The area is known for its prosperity of mineral resources which have for a long time remained unexploited. History Bakouma was founded in September 1892 when t ...

. As her own political party had not been legalised by the time of the election, she ran as the leader of the

Civic Forum The Civic Forum (, OF) was a political movement in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, established during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The corresponding movement in Slovakia was called Public Against Violence ( – VPN). The Civic Forum's purpo ...

party. The election, however, was cancelled by

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and re-held the following year in 1993, when Ruth-Rolland was able to run under her own

Central African Republican Party The Central African Republican Party (, PRC) is a political party in the Central African Republic. History The party was founded by Jeanne-Marie Ruth-Rolland in 1991 after she was released from prison. She was elected despite attempts by President Kolingba to annul the ballot. Later that year she was appointed as the Minister for Social Affairs, the Status of Women and National Solidarity. Ruth-Rolland left her ministerial position on August 22, 1993, to run as a candidate in the Central African Republic general election, being the first woman in Africa to run for president. Despite popularity as a candidate, she was not elected, acquiring 1% of votes. Following the election she resumed her position as deputy of

and ran a gold prospector's consortium in the eastern regions of the country.

Personal life and death

Jeanne-Marie Ruth-Rolland's paternal father was French and her mother was from the Nzakara people. Since her birth father died when she was young, the Bandia paramount chief, Sultan Amiel Sayo, became her stepfather. She married a French arms dealer from

Bangui Bangui (; or Bangî in Sango language, Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in the Central African Republic, largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a Fren ...

with whom she had five children. She was an avid diamond-collector and pursued this hobby in her later years. In her final years, Ruth-Rolland became ill and was evacuated to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, where she died, aged 58, in hospital on June 4, 1995. The cause of her death was not given. In her obituary, French newspaper ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' wrote that Ruth-Rolland "left her mark on Central African political life by her outspokenness." A memorial has been erected in Bakouma in her honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruth-Rolland, Jeanne-Marie 1937 births 1995 deaths People of French Equatorial Africa Government ministers of the Central African Republic Central African Republic prisoners and detainees People from Bangassou Prisoners and detainees of the Central African Republic 20th-century women politicians Women government ministers of the Central African Republic