“We’ve had enough of civil wars, coups, and corrupt leaders. Now we are registering to vote for our president. A legitimate president,” says Abdul Youssouf, a trader lining up at the voters census station No.1 in Bambari, a major city in the Central African Republic (CAR). Youssouf pauses and considers the idea for a moment. “The problem is, I don’t know if any one president can be legitimate for everyone in CAR. People are still divided here, and fighting,” he despondently adds.

A few meters away, under the shade of a tree, a young man intently watches the line of people waiting to be registered on the voters’ list. Leaning against the trunk, dressed in civilian clothes, he is an informer for the Muslim Seleka rebels, Youssouf tells me in a hushed tone.

Not that it is a secret: the armed group’s leader lives just behind the town hall, on the other side of the lawn where registration is taking place. Across the river, anti-balaka, Christian militias fighting the Seleka, are in control of the city’s left bank.