SUMMARY
The CPC-F (Coalition des patriotes pour le changement fondamental, Coalition of Patriots for Change-Fundamental) was a rebel coalition in the Central African Republic, formed in 2024 as a breakaway from the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC). It was created by Ali Darassa, leader of the UPC, and Noureddine Adam, leader of the FPRC, and was dominated by their two ex-Séléka groups. Its declared membership also included a small anti-Balaka faction and a newly formed group, the Front for the Defence of Public Liberties (FDLP), although its exact composition was disputed and several groups initially named as members denied any involvement. Haroun Gaye was appointed its general coordinator, with Darassa as chief of staff and Adam, who was under UN sanctions, operating in the background.
The split grew out of a dispute within the CPC. In July 2024, Darassa, who served as the CPC's chief of staff, published a communiqué expressing his willingness to enter into dialogue with the government. The Bozizé-led CPC coordination disapproved and expelled him in early August 2024. Darassa then allied with Adam, and on 30 August 2024 they announced the new coalition at an assembly attended by representatives of the UPC, the FPRC, anti-Balaka elements, and the FDLP. Despite the rupture, the CPC-F and the original CPC shared the same objective of removing President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, and the two branches continued to cooperate on the ground.
The coalition's two principal figures were long-standing ex-Séléka commanders. Darassa, a Fulani leader of the UPC, had been placed under UN sanctions in December 2021, while Adam, a founder of the FPRC, had been under UN sanctions since 2014 and was the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in 2022, having earlier declared a short-lived autonomous entity in the northeast in 2015. The CPC-F operated mainly in the east and northeast of the country.
Observers were divided over the CPC-F's significance. Some dismissed it as an opportunistic manoeuvre with no clear political project, while others cautioned against underestimating Darassa and Adam's military and political experience. The coalition was effectively hollowed out in 2025. Darassa's UPC signed a Chad-mediated ceasefire in April and was formally dissolved in July, after which Darassa left the armed struggle, while the FPRC under Adam rejected calls to disarm and remained active in the northeast. By late 2025 the CPC-F had largely fragmented, with Adam's FPRC its main surviving component.
