BIG READ: Uranium, two presidents and rockets in Bangui
Three extracts from The Battle of Bangui: The inside story of SA’s worst military scandal since apartheid
In April 2006 Francois Bozizé, president of the Central African Republic (CAR), paid a three-day working visit to SA at the invitation of then president Thabo Mbeki. Bozizé was accompanied by his nephew and minister of mines and energy, Sylvain Ndoutingai. By the time they left, SA and the CAR had concluded a framework agreement that prioritised co-operation in defence and security. In a short space of time, this would come to represent direct military aid from SA.
Their visit came just as UraMin, a public company chaired by the Ghanaian mining mogul Sir Sam Jonah, was vying to acquire the Bakouma uranium deposit located in the middle of the CAR. Jonah sat on Mbeki’s International Investment Council and operated his private equity fund from SA...
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