Chadian President Idriss Déby has died after sustaining injuries “on the frontline” while visiting troops who are attempting to defeat a rebel incursion that erupted in the north of the country following Déby’s victory in the presidential election on April 11. Army spokesperson Azim Bermandoa Agouma confirmed on Tuesday that Déby “has just breathed his last defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield”. Meanwhile, a nationwide curfew has been implemented and the nation’s borders have been sealed.
Over the past week, a number of rebel fighters have entered the country from Libya with the aim of ousting Déby, who has been in power since 1990 and just secured a sixth term in office. Although the army and the government have both claimed on multiple occasions that the rebel offensive has been defeated, Déby’s death is a clear indication that the conflict is still very much ongoing.
On Monday, the military said that its soldiers had killed 300 rebels in the northern provinces of Tibesti and Kanem and claimed that the army had only sustained five deaths. Army spokesperson Agouma said that the rebels had been “totally decimated”, while government spokesperson Cherif Mahamat Zene congratulated the army for defeating the “mercenaries coming from Libya”.
However, the Front for Alternation and Concord in Chad (FACT) rebels simultaneously claimed that they had “liberated” Kanem and taken control of a military garrison in Gouri, which was immediately denied by the government, who replied, “The authors of these false statements are not even on the ground, but somewhere in Europe.”
In fact, the rebels claimed that Déby was actually shot on Monday and had been on the run since.
This continued uncertainty and instability explain why the United States embassy has all ordered the withdrawal of non-essential employees and the family members of all employees. In fact, it released a statement contradicting the claims of the Chadian government and military, saying that the rebels were headed towards to the capital N’Djamena. Accordingly, it warned all Americans to leave the country as soon as possible, saying, “The government of Chad may impose travel restrictions without notice, which may affect travel plans. The government of Chad may block communications channels, including telephone service, social media, and internet. The U.S. Government has extremely limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Chad as U.S. Government employees must obtain special authorization to travel outside of the capital, including the Lake Chad Basin.”
The United Kingdom (UK) and France have also issued travel advisories for their citizens.
International actors are particularly concerned about events in Chad due to the country’s strategic importance. Chad lies in both the Sahel and the Horn of Africa and borders Libya, Sudan, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic, which means that it serves a hub for “radical Islam and terrorism” to spread through the entire region. Therefore, Chad plays a crucial role in multilateral counterterrorism efforts such as France’s Operation Barkhane, the G-5 Sahel, and other security operations deployed across the region at large.
To this end, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said, that the “ethnic and tribal clashes” in Chad pose a “threat to African unity and stability” as a whole, noting that “a threat to stability in one part of Africa is a threat to the rest of us.”
Déby will now be replaced by his 37-year-old son, General Mahamat Kaka. Furthermore, the civilian government will now be replaced by a transitional military council for 18 months, which military spokesperson Agouma said was to “assure the defence of our dear country facing this war against terrorism and evil.” He assured that Chad would hold “free, democratic, and transparent elections” following this period”.
Critics of the move, however, have said that the decision to transfer power to Déby’s son is unconstitutional. Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, for example, said, “What the constitution says is that in the absence of the president or in case he dies, then the speaker of the parliament takes charge of the country for 40 days and so a transition is put in place until elections are held,” adding, “[But] the military announced that the legislative assembly has been dissolved and that the constitution also has been dissolved, so what they are doing is that they replaced the constitution with their own set of rules.”
The rebels, too, have denounced the decision, saying, “Chad is not a monarchy. There can be no dynastic devolution of power in our country.” They went on to warn, “The forces of the Front for Change and Concord are heading toward N'Djamena at this very moment. With confidence, but above all with courage and determination.”
Aside from regional instability, Déby’s death also points to the intense dissatisfaction with his rule, which many see as illegitimate, given that he has time and again suppressed political opposition and criticism of his governance. In fact, in the 2021 election, in which he won over 80% of the votes, three opposition politicians withdrew from the race over concerns of legitimacy and credibility, while seven others had their candidacy rejected by the Supreme Court. Furthermore, prior to the election, Déby boldly declared, “I know in advance that I will win, as I have done for the last 30 years.”
Others have expressed their suspicions about the nature of Déby’s death. They have even speculated that the military or the president’s security team could have been involved, saying that a head of state being shot by rebels while visiting a military base, especially when the military and the government had repeatedly stated that the rebel offensive had been defeated with minimal losses, seems inconceivable.
Chad President Déby Killed by Rebels, Military Takes Control of Control of Country
Déby will now be replaced by his 37-year-old son, General Mahamat Kaka. Furthermore, the civilian government will now be replaced by a transitional military council for 18 months.
April 21, 2021
The now-former President of Chad, Idriss Déby SOURCE: CNN