Chad After Idriss Deby: Giving Power to the People is the Best Option

Pint.2021. Field Marshal Idriss Deby

The killing of Idriss Deby by the rebels of the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) and the installation of his son, Mahamat Idriss Deby - also known as General Kaka - by the military against the constitution will not end Chad’s endemic political tragedy. Only the civilian government can bring stability to the country. Chad’s political tragedy since independence had been power: who should hold power and how to replace them. It had always led to the cycle of violence against both the civilians and the leaders, the latest of which was the killing of President Deby in the northern region of Tibesti.

The violent death of Idriss Deby was not the only moment in history in which Chadians had witnessed the brutal killing of the country’s president. The first was the 1975 assassination of the independence president, Francois Tombalbaye, who was secretly killed and buried in a remote town in the region where President Deby would later meet his fate. These two tragedies meant that Chad had not been peaceful in 60 years since independence. Political volatilities and pervasive rebellions had played major negative impacts on the country’s political, cultural, economic, educational, health, and infrastructural developments.

Oftentimes, hostile neighbors in the names of the Sudan and Libya had caused or fuelled Chad’s tragedies. With the help of the former colonial power, France, President Idriss Deby had himself warded off many close calls with some of Chad’s unswerving rebels emanating from these countries. The history of Chad since the killing of Tombalbaye had been a history beset in bloodshed, deviation from the aspirations of the people, and disappointment. 

Above all, Chad is a country at the frontline given that climate change remains a threat to all countries on the planet. It needs enduring peace and stability to be able to focus on responding to the constantly and relentlessly expanding Sahara Desert, which threatens the entire Sahel region from the Red Sea to the Atlantic coast with bareness, rising temperatures, lack of water, and depopulation.

This begs the question: can Chad accept the death of Idriss Deby with equanimity and rechart the path towards a genuine political settlement? Nothing is impossible and a few suggestions can be advanced in that regard. 

Key among these suggestions is cooperation among the leaders. The military, rebels, and civilian leaders can work together to save the people from endless political tragedies by allowing stewardship of the people-centered government to take effect. If this happens, decades of bloodshed, hopelessness, and many other concomitant effects of war would be halted. The generals in the army and in rebellions must understand that a military solution to the country’s internal political problems is not a viable option but could only lead to more misery and disappointments. 

Secondly, working together requires sitting together to resolve problems. The call now is specifically on the military leadership to heed the voices of the people and pursue peace: firstly; either the transitional authority headed by General Kaka relinquishes power to the civilians to organize the elections, or shares power with the civilian authorities to organize a transition to civilian government; secondly, respond positively to the rebels and peacefully negotiate a comprehensive solution to governance problem in the country. Does Chad need help to carry out such commitments? Of course, regional and international bodies and governments have to come to the aid of Chad.   

To begin with, through regional cooperation and international assistance, Chad can be turned into a peaceful oasis in the dunes. As mentioned earlier, it must commence with the neighbors that oftentimes interfered in her internal political dynamics. The community of peace-loving nations must bring pressure to bear on Chad’s neighbors and urge them to commit to good neighborliness that encompasses security cooperation agreements. Such agreements will ensure that proxy wars are not entertained. 

Additionally, the same security cooperation should apply to the countries of the Great Lake Chad Basin: Nigeria, Cameroon, and Niger. Their attention should not only focus on the unfortunate Islamists’ activities of Boko Haram - which Chad is helping in the fight - but also on maintaining security cooperation for better stabilization of the middle Africa region. 

Thirdly, the economic community of West African States (ECOWAS), which had been a regional pacifier and peace enforcer, must not tire to turn attention to Lake Chad Region. The bloc’s support in West Africa ensured that Charles Taylor was made accountable for war atrocities in Liberia, leading to his arrest; conviction, and detention in HM prison Frankland, UK. Such bold steps are needed to ensure that politically struggling nations like Chad find lasting peace and stability. 

Fourthly, the continental body, the African Union, should maintain pressure on the military authorities in Chad to allow civilian government to be formed. Thirty years of military rule under former president Idriss Deby have not accorded Chad any semblance of peace but continuous wars. If deploying a neutral force between the warring factions and the regime in N’djamena will force all to the negotiations for a binding agreement, then it would be a worthy call for the African Union to undertake.

Finally, the former colonial power, France, should take the responsibility of waging peace in Chad. If France desires peace at home and seeks the assistance of Chad in fighting the Islamists/Jihadists in the Sahel, as Chad had dependably been doing, then France must not appear to be soft on the rebels and military rulers but to side with the people so that the democratic governance is realized. Anything short will always be read along the lines of the endorsement of the status quo. Most of Chad’s rebel leaders such as Mahamat Mahdi Ali of FACT (former deposed President Hissène Habré’s kinsman) and Mahamat Nouri of The Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) are cozied in Paris. They can comply with peace initiatives if pressured by the host. If this happens, peace will ring in Chad, and if it does, genuine democratic governance will endure – and there would be no reason in the future why a democratically elected president would rush to the frontline a day after winning the elections only to die in battle.