Simplice Sarandji (born 4 April 1955 in

Baoro Baoro is a town located in the Central African Republic prefecture of Nana-Mambéré. History On 20 January 2014 Seleka withdrew from Baoro. Two days later armed Anti-balaka fighters attacked the town killing civilians. Muslims were able to re ...

Ubangi-Shari Ubangi-Shari (french: Oubangui-Chari) was a French colony in central Africa, a part of French Equatorial Africa. It was named after the Ubangi and Chari rivers along which it was colonised. It was established on 29 December 1903, from the ...

, now

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of the C ...

) is the former Prime Minister of Central African Republic. He previously acted as the chief of staff for Prime Minister Faustin-Archange Touadera, and the campaign manager during Touadera's successful

Presidential campaign 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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. Prior to his political career, he lectured in geography at the

University of Bangui The University of Bangui (french: Université de Bangui) is a public university located in Bangui, Central African Republic. History Before independence in Oubangui-Chari (later to be called the Central African Republic), most students going on t ...

Educational career

Simplice Sarandji holds a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in Geography from

Michel de Montaigne University Bordeaux 3 Bordeaux Montaigne University ( French: ''Université Bordeaux Montaigne''; formerly ''Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3'') is a public university in Pessac, France, approximately 8 kilometres (5 miles) southwest of the city centre of B ...

, and subsequently taught the subject for four years at the

, where he also became

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

Political career

Previously, Sarandji served as chief of staff for Faustin-Archange Touadera while the latter served as Prime Minister, for five years between 2008-13. The two were familiar with each other from when they were each students. Sarandji also acted as Touadera's campaign director during the December 2015–February 2016 presidential election. After Touadera took office as President, he appointed Sarandji as Prime Minister on 2 April 2016. He named his first cabinet on 12 April, consisting of 23 members including

Jean-Serge Bokassa Jean-Serge Bokassa (born 25 February 1972) is a Central African politician who has served in the government of the Central African Republic as Minister of the Interior since 2016. Previously he was Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts, and Culture fro ...

, Charles Armel Doubane and

Joseph Yakete Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, each of whom had run against Touadera for President. Sarandji elected not to include any members from the Christian and Muslim militias behind the violence in the 2013 coup. As Prime Minister, his security is provided by a

Rwanda National Police The Rwanda National Police is the national police service of Rwanda. History The service was created on 16 June 2000 by law No. 09 of 2000 and merged three earlier forces, the ''Gendarmerie Nationale'' of the Ministry of Defence, the ''Communal ...

Protection Support Unit which is deployed to the Central African Republic as part of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

stabilization mission. He subsequently praised the Rwandan peacekeepers for introducing a form of community work in Rwanda called Umuganda into the Central Africa Republic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarandji, Simplice 1955 births Living people Prime Ministers of the Central African Republic Presidents of the National Assembly (Central African Republic) People from Nana-Mambéré Bordeaux Montaigne University alumni Academic staff of the University of Bangui