The logo of MESAN
MESAN (Mouvement pour l'Évolution Sociale de l'Afrique Noire or the Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa) was founded in the 1950s in the French colony of Oubangui-Chari (the former Central African Republic) nationalist party pursuing the emancipation of the Africans as well as the independence of Oubangui-Chari. In 1958, MESAN won elections in the colony and became president president Barthélemy Boganda (1910-1959).
In 1959, Boganda's cousin, David Dacko, became prime minister. After the Central African Republic was established in 1960, he became president and entered into a one-party system in 1962 with the MESAN as sole legal party.
General Jean-Bédel Bokassa, who was both a Boganda and Dacko cousin, took power in the CAR in 1966 and proclaimed an emperor in 1976. He maintained the MESAN monopoly position and strongly emphasized her role.
In September 1979, Bokassa was dropped and Dacko became president again. Finally, he acquired the MESAN and replaced her by the Central African Democratic Union. This party lost its dominant position after a military coup in 1981.
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