Marie-Josèphe Zani-Fé Touam-Bona

Marie-Josèphe was born in the town of Ippy (now in Ouaka prefecture), the daughter of Achille Petit-Jean (a Belgian mining engineer) and Augustine Valagandede (a Banda woman originally from Mbrès). Her father left the country before she was born, and only acknowledged her as his daughter several decades later. Because of her mixed-race background, Marie-Josèphe received a French-language education, attending schools in Bangui and Mbaïki run by Catholic nuns. She was given an additional surname during her schooling, Jeannot, in order to identify her as of European ancestry, but took her husband's surname (Franck) after her marriage in 1951.[1]

In 1960, Marie-Josèphe received a scholarship from the national government to attended a home economics training course in Paris, which was worth 30,000 francs. She initially worked as a schoolteacher when she returned to the CAR, but in October 1961 joined the civil service as an assistant social worker. In October 1962, President David Dacko appointed Marie-Josèphe to his Social and Economic Council, where she served until January 1966.[2] In February 1964, he also made her head of the Service for the Advancement of Women, a new government agency dedicated to improving the status of women in Central African society. Marie-Josèphe was further promoted in October 1965, becoming Director of Social Affairs.[1] In March 1967, she was appointed to the inaugural national committee of the Central African Red Cross Society.[3]

In January 1965, Marie-Josèphe was elected president of the Union Féminine Centrafricaine (UFCA; "Central African Women's Association"), a position which she would hold until her death. The UFCA had been formed the previous year as the women's section of MESAN, the sole legal political party at the time.[2] In February 1970, Marie-Josèphe was made Secretary of State for Social Affairs in the government of President Jean-Bédel Bokassa, who had seized power in January 1966. She was the first female government minister in the CAR, and remained in cabinet for over nine years, only departing in September 1979 when Bokassa was deposed.[4] She held a number of different portfolios and titles during her time in office, at various points being responsible for social affairs, education, and the advancement of women.[5]

Marie-Josèphe returned to politics at the 1993 general election, winning election to the National Assembly as an independent and standing in the Mbrès constituency. She was re-elected at the 1998 election, but died in office in December 2001, while undergoing medical treatment in Paris. Her body was flown back to the CAR, and she lay in state at the National Assembly buildings for two days before being buried in her home village. Her funeral was attended by President Ange-Félix Patassé and various other government officials.[4]

In 1951, aged 18, Marie-Josèphe married Antonio Franck, a civil servant originally from Middle Congo. They had seven children together, four sons and three daughters. Antonio Franck also became a minister under President Bokassa, entering cabinet three years before his wife.[2] The couple divorced in 1973, and Marie-Josèphe later remarried to André Zani-Fé Touam-Bona, another of Bokassa's ministers.[4]

• Politics of the Central African Republic