Central African Republic

African-Americans were thoroughly disappointed by the results of King Tut’s DNA test which showed that Pharoah Tutankhamun and his father Akhenaten were at least of partial European ancestry.

In spite of the Great Black Disappointment of 2010, there are modern examples of legitimate African royalty whose existence is verifiable and indisputable.

In 1977, Jean-Bédel Bokassa was coronated His Imperial Majesty Emperor Bokassa the First of the Central African Empire in one the most ostentatious ceremonies in world history. The coronation of Bokassa was more lavish than anything to be found in the annals of Egyptian history and this more than makes up for the loss of King Tut to black people.

In a country with only 260 miles of paved roads and where 66 percent of the population lives on less than $1 a day, His Imperial Majesty’s coronation cost $22 million dollars and one third of the Central African Republic’s annual budget. 2,500 foreign dignitaries were invited to watch the two day event and feast on 220 tons of the world’s finest cuisine.

Bokassa’s golden eagle throne weighed two tons and was made of solid gold. His $750,000 crown was encrusted with 2,000 diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. 450 pounds of rose petals were strewn before the emperor and his empress. His entourage was escorted by dozens of earls, counts, dukes and lords in sixty Mercedes-Benz limousines named from among his personal friends.

As the “absolute monarch” of the Central African Republic, Bokassa forbade the use of the words “democracy” and “elections.” He promoted himself to the rank of general and then marshal and later “apostle.” In public appearances, Bokassa wore specially designed uniforms to accomodate all the medals and awards that he bestowed up himself.

He acquired four chateauxs in France, a fifty-room mansion in Paris, houses in Nice and Toulouse and a villa in Berne. He built a presidential palace in his “ancestral home” at Berengo and built a motorway there to access it with state funds. Political enemies were fed to lions and crocodiles at the Villa Kolongo.

Over the course of his 14 year reign, Bokossa announced a “Move to the East” and proclaimed “scientific socialism” to be the goal of his government, but when that didn’t work out he converted to Islam and renamed himself “Salah Addin Ahmed Bokassa.” When he didn’t receive enough money from the Arab world, he reverted to the Catholic Church and crowned himself emperor of the Central African Empire in emulation of Napoleon.

His Imperial Majesty Emperor Bokassa I sired 62 children by 17 official wives of all races. He maintained a harem of mistresses in separate villas paid for by taxpayers. Before his regime was toppled amid accusations of cannibalism by French troops in Operation Barracuda in 1979, Bokassa milked state coffers and extorted $10 million dollars into overseas bank accounts.

After 52 years of freedom and independence, life has gotten so bad in the Central African Republic that Bokassa’s tyrannical reign is nostalgically remembered as a time of relative stability and prosperity.

Note: The first part of a 16 part documentary on the life of Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire is found below. The other 15 parts are available on YouTube for those who are curious and want to learn more about one of the greatest black leaders of modern times.



