Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera underwent “routine” medical examinations in Belgium this week, according to a government spokesman, dismissing claims that he had been rushed to hospital.
The 68-year-old leader, who has been in office for nearly ten years, travelled to Brussels for the health check prior to attending a summit of the Gavi vaccine alliance, presidential spokesman Maxime Balalou told reporters on Monday.
“He went to undergo what we call a check-up, meaning routine examinations,” Balalou explained.
In a statement on Tuesday, the spokesman addressed rumours circulating in the media and on social networks suggesting that Touadera had been urgently hospitalised. “There has been much speculation about the president’s health, claiming that he is seriously ill. This is false,” Balalou asserted.
“I want to reassure the public that the president is in very good health,” he added, confirming that Touadera would participate in Wednesday’s Gavi summit in Brussels.
In Bangui, several political sources, speaking anonymously, described the president’s health as “too sensitive” a subject to discuss openly.
Touadera was first elected in 2016, following French military intervention and the deployment of UN peacekeepers, which brought an end to a bloody sectarian civil war. His supporters credit him with restoring stability to much of the country.
In 2019, Touadera brokered a peace agreement with 14 armed groups, incorporating many of the country’s warlords into the government. While security has largely returned to the towns, outbreaks of violence continue to plague rural areas.
