Administration Former President Comoros
Description of Work:
The, until recently, defiant Anjoaunese President Colonel Mohamed Bacar was born on the now semi-autonomous island of the Comores on May 5, 1962 in Barakani.

Known as a rebel against the Union of the Comores and African Union, Bacar started his naval and law enforcement with training in France. After returning to the island he started to work his way up to being the head of state police for the harbor. This position would aid him greatly in his future endeavors in ruling the island. For Bacar, the early 1990’s was a time for additional training in Maritime law and English in the United States. He then went back to France to enroll in the Gendarmerie school at Melun.

Upon his return to the island, Bacar quickly inserted himself in the tumultuous political scene of the Comoros. In 2001, he led a “military committee” to reunify Anjoaun with the rest of the union. After several coup attempts, Bacar was elected president of Anjoaun a year later.

In 2007, the Comorian Federal Constitutional Court declared Bacar’s rule after the end of his term was illegal and that the presidency was vacant. Dhoihirou Halidi was declared as the interim president of Anjoaun. Nonetheless, Bacar refused to step down despite the AU’s desire. Bacar held an “illegal” election where he was declared president by 90 percent of a paper ballot vote.

Bacar did not relinquish his power until a precedent setting Comorian and AU invasion forced him to flee the island in mid-March 2008.