Central African Republic has ordered radio and television stations to stop broadcasting songs which encourage men to dump their wives, saying such music is a hindrance to the country's development.

　　Broadcasters had been told not to play any music which might inspire Central African men to look for new partners if the ones they were married to no longer satisfied their needs, interim Communications Minister Fidele Ngoundgika said.

　　"It's out of the question that music of misogynist character should be allowed to ride roughshod over questions of equality and the respect of the Central African woman," Ngoundgika said.

　　"The Central African woman is a key part of the country's development," he told reporters.

　　Polygamy is legal in the former French colony, one of the world's poorest countries, with men allowed to marry up to four wives. Women only gained the right to vote in 1986 and female genital mutilation, although outlawed, is common in rural areas.