As a peace deal signed by the Central African government and rebel groups comes into force on Friday, the leaders of 3R and UPC have officially dissolved their movements in a ceremony in Bangui led by President Faustin-Archange Touadéra.
General Sembé Bobo, head of the Union for Peace (UPC), and Ali Darassa of Return, Reclamation and Rehabilitation (3R), confirmed the disbanding of their political and military wings during the event on Thursday.
Wearing blue and white boubous, the two warlords took turns placing Kalashnikovs on a table, marking the end of hostilities, reported RFI's correspondent Rolf Steve Domia-leu.
The laying down of arms follows a ceasefire agreement signed between Bangui, UPC and 3R on 19 April in N'Djamena, with Chadian mediation.
“In the name of our movement, the 3R, we are here to answer the call for peace, we commit to honouring this agreement for the supreme interest of the nation,” Bobo said. “I assure you that I will respect all the commitments I have made.”
Darassa made a similar promise and urged the Central African government to do the same. He called for security guarantees to be upheld, signatory groups to be included in running public affairs and fighters to be integrated into reintegration and community development plans.
CAR has been mired in violence since a coalition of mostly northern and predominantly Muslim rebels known as Seleka, or "Alliance" in the Sango language, seized power in March 2013 after ousting president Francois Bozize.
Their dominance gave rise to the opposing anti-balaka Christian militias.
The UN mounted the Minusca peacekeeping operation in 2014.
Touadéra was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020 but large parts of the country have remained under the control of armed groups.
In February 2019 Bangui signed the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in the Central African Republic (APPR-RCA) in Khartoum with 14 armed groups, but attempts at integrating rebel factions into state structures failed and the main ones withdrew.
The agreement was revived after lengthy negotiations between Bangui, the 3R and UPC, brokered by Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, and signed on 19 April.
It sets out a detailed process to incorporate rebel fighters into the army and security forces.
Fighters from the UPC and 3R have already been relocated to five cantonment sites in rebel strongholds in the east and north-west of the country, and registered.
They will then be disarmed.
Former rebels deemed fit for service will begin training, with a view to joining the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) or one of the other branches of the country’s defence and security forces, as pledged by the government. Fighters deemed unfit will benefit from the country's Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme (DDR).
As mediator and guarantor of the 19 April agreement, Chad will be responsible for ensuring its effective implementation.
During Thursday's ceremony, Chad's Defence Minister Issakha Malloua Djamous urged all parties to remain faithful to its spirit. “Ongoing instability in the Central African Republic could destabilise Chad,” he warned, calling on all parties to work “hand in hand”.
President Touadéra acknowledged everyone’s efforts. “This latest agreement is not a sign of weakness,” he said, expressing his conviction that “dialogue will contribute to the development of the Central African Republic”.
He reiterated calls for “an immediate end to hostilities through a ceasefire, a permanent renunciation of the use of weapons and violence, and the handing over of arms to the government within the framework of the DDR process”.
Bangui is also in negotiations with other rebel movements, including the anti-balaka militias and the Patriotic Movement for the Central African Republic (MPC) – both of which have expressed a willingness to rejoin the 2019 agreement.