Little has been written in the international press about Chad’s new dictator Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno. He took over from his father, Idriss Déby Itno, who was killed in action against separatist rebels in the north of Chad in 2021. He replaced his father as soon as he was killed but was officially confirmed as Chad’s President via a rigged and fake presidential election in May last year. France allowed him to get away with it, congratulating him for his “success” in the elections. President Mahamat Deby didn’t appreciate this courtesy, and humiliated the French months later by demanding the quick withdrawal of all French forces in the country.
Originally a military officer who distinguished himself in Libya’s war against Chad in the 1980s, Idriss Déby Itno projected the image of a strong military ruler who became President due to this merits and strength. He became the President of Chad in 1990 in a coup d’état. Clearly, his son, who lacks the military experience of his father, has been trying very hard even by going to theatrical extremes to prove, that he, like his father, is also a strong military ruler. In last December, President Mahamat held a ceremony where he promoted himself to Field Marshall: the highest military honour. The ceremony was extremely theatrical, aimed at making the new Field Marshall look like a successful and powerful military commander by mimicking a 19th century European aristocratic military officer. His local political critics photoshopped him wearing his military regalia sitting behind a rubbish dump.
Despite the pomp, and the theatre of military might, Chad is a relatively very peaceful country compared to its neighbours. The separatists in the north have long been subdued and Chad no longer faces any existential military threats. The small security threats it faces from Boko Haram in the south have also long been subdued. Chad, with a GDP per capita of up to $680 according to the latest figures by the World Bank, needs a civilian ruler and not a military dictator. So far, Chad’s President hasn’t announced any new major civilian or infrastructure initiatives: but the military posturing wasn’t lacking.
His first major initiative as the new President was to kick out the French troops from his country who helped him build his army and fight Islamic terrorists and separatist rebels that threatened his rule, to instead seek closer relations with Russia. Hungarian military officers are already in Chad helping the Chadian Army doing border patrols along the border of Libya and Sudan. Recently, President Mahamat Deby travelled to Burkina Faso with a contingent of soldiers, and even offered to send his troops, of all places, in Congo to support of the government against M23 Rebels.
Some of Chad’s military officers are actually abroad and actively fighting, but not officially in the state’s name, and rather on their own volition. There is ample evidence that many Chadians are fighting in the ranks of the genocidal Rapid Support Forces in Sudan. The Chadian government denies this and says that many of the Chadian ID cards owned these RSF fighters are fake. However, it is no secret that Chad has strongly supported and still supports the RSF in various ways. Equipment provided to the RSF by the United Arab Emirates travels through Chad and Chad prefers to coordinate border-control with the RSF rather than the official Sudanese Army.
Recently, Sudanese Lieutenant General Yasir Al-Atta, stoked the flames by saying that Sudan should go to war against Chad. The Sudanese government quickly issued a statement condemning the Lieutenant General’s statement saying that his words do not reflect its position or its values. The Chadian government theatrically acted as if it was shocked with the statement and quickly tried to victimise itself. Yet, clearly, Chad is not a victim in the UAE-sponsored war in Sudan. Chad is indirectly supporting a genocidal terrorist group in Sudan that is responsible for some of the worst war crimes committed in Africa in recent history. If it is grappling with a refugee crisis at the border of Sudan, this is somehow also of Chad’s own making. Yet, in some ways, this refugee crisis has also been a blessing for Chad. The country is so poor that the activities of humanitarian agencies, initially aimed at saving the lives of refugees, have also benefited the Chadian people through the construction of new schools and social centers.
President Mahamat Deby seems to be getting into conflicts unnecessarily. Clearly, he is also paranoid which I would suppose, is a common trait to warmongering dictators. His paranoia is turning his country into an Algerian-like dictatorship with extreme restrictions on the press and political activity. The barbarity of his regime has been publicly witnessed with the violent behaviour of his presidential guard who, in at least two separate cases, killed civilians simply for breaching “the restricted perimeter”. It’s hard to make friends when you shoot at anyone who comes near you.
If President Mahamat Deby wanted to portray himself as someone capable of easily shooting and killing his enemies, he has done so effectively. Hopefully, his act is now over, and he is more focused on developing his country rather than seeking unnecessary conflicts.
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