Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Berman, Eric G and Louisa N. Lombard. 2008 ‘Weapons Generated within CAR - Indigenous Production.’ The Central African Republic and Small Arms: A Regional Tinderbox, p. 65. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. 1 December
Relevant contents
Weapons Generated within CAR - Indigenous Production
CAR does have a state-run military company, but it does not manufacture arms. The Manufacture militaire centrafricain (Central African Military Manufacture, MAMICA) plant, based in the capital, began operations in 1981. Its nine divisions specialize in the manufacture of men's and women's clothing, woodworking, shoe production, iron-smithing, leather work, basket making, wood sculpture, quilt making, and knitting. In 2001 it employed 70 civilian and military personnel.
Artisans fabricate many weapons, however. It is difficult to obtain information on the number of people involved in such activities. Occasional references in published reports indicate that rudimentary hunting rifles are the main, if not the only, product. These weapons number in the tens of thousands. Locals in the prefecture of Sangha-Mbaéré reportedly call these home-made rifles yarenga - which means 'doesn't last' in the local dialect. Elsewhere people refer to them as 'fusils poupou', a reference to the sound their shots emit.
In 1962 the French military recorded that 24,000 craft weapons circulated throughout the Central African Republic. Park guards in Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest Special Reserve have seized and destroyed large numbers of these locally made weapons over the years.
[CAR = Central African Republic]
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