Bangui is bracing for a high-stakes Friday. The Republican Bloc for the Defence of the Constitution (BRDC), the main opposition platform, is calling on residents of the capital, Bimbo and Bégoua to take to the streets on 13 November from 6 am. The procession is due to run from Place Marabéna to Place des Martyrs, where a memorandum will be handed to the authorities.
Fuel prices lie at the heart of the anger. Since early October, prices have climbed steeply in this landlocked country, with petrol now at 1,150 FCFA a litre and diesel at 1,400 FCFA. A « ville morte » shutdown had already brought Bangui to a standstill on 12 October. In its wake, several civil society leaders were arrested. Four according to Africa Radio, five according to RFI, they remain in detention.
The opposition’s demands go beyond the pump. The BRDC wants the activists freed immediately, the agreement between the state and Neptune Oil SA, the company that imports fuel through Cameroon, made public, and the downstream petroleum sector liberalised. It is also calling for a litre to cost less than 1,000 FCFA. When he announced the march on 30 October, the bloc’s coordinator, lawyer Crépin Mboli-Goumba, also denounced the regime’s authoritarian drift and urged a political dialogue.
The authorities, for their part, are blowing hot and cold. Last Saturday, government spokesman Évariste Ngamana insisted the protesters would not be able to march because doing so would be illegal. He argues the BRDC has no legal status and criticises it for shunning the last elections. He urged young people not to follow its leaders and promised the state would tolerate no disorder, without saying how it intended to stop the gathering.
Everything seemed settled until a different message emerged. According to the news site Afrique-sur7, public security minister Bienvenu Zokoue authorised the march in a letter sent to the BRDC on 9 November, asking organisers to follow legal procedures. No official clarification has since resolved the contradiction. The opposition, meanwhile, maintains that it needs no permission to protest in any case.
This standoff comes amid a tense political climate. Re-elected in early 2026 for a third term, Faustin-Archange Touadéra faces an opposition that is stepping up criticism of his record after ten years in power. The question now is whether Friday will pass off peacefully or turn into a trial of strength.