Elections are being scheduled to be held in 2010, amid peace the talks currently taking place in the anarchical and crumbling Central African Republic, (CAR) offering hope to its dire population.
Rebel forces have been fighting government troops since 2003 when the current President, Francois Bozize, took power.
The country has suffered 11 coups in the last 10 years and in the last three years, over 300,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.
The rebels forces have said that the north and west of the country have been left in a total state of neglect, which has allowed bandits to roam at their own free will while schools, hospitals and roads crumble.
Talks of an election and peace has has therefore brightened the hopes of many Central African republic citizens.
But those exiled from their homes and living in fear are not optimistic about the efforts at peace being made in the capital.
According to John Berte, a villager in the CAR, ‘To me, dialogues and peace agreements are like elections, we’ve been electing politicians for a long time but this never brings peace to our villages.
We are living in the bush like animals, drinking the same water as them. All we want is peace, not words.’
People still live in danger.
Gangs of armed bandits prey on the vulnerable, making many parts of the vast territory a no-go area.
According to reports, the village of Beogombo Deux is completely deserted.
Crumbling walls, punctured with bullets holes and covered with thick vegetation, dot neighbourhoods in the country.
In another area a school house stands empty with writing still on the chalk-board.
