Chad and Senegal strongly condemned comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, accusing the Sahel countries of “not thanking” his country for supporting the continent in the fight against armed insurgency.
Emmanuel Macron had declared that his country was “right” to intervene militarily in the Sahel region against what he described as “terrorism” since 2013, but that African leaders “forgot to say thank you” to France for this support, adding that without this French military intervention, “none” of these African leaders would govern a sovereign state today.
These remarks made by the French head of state during the annual meeting of French ambassadors around the world were strongly condemned in N’Djamena and Dakar.
In a statement released by Chadian Foreign Minister Abdoul Rahman Kalamallah, N’Djamena expressed “its deep concern following Macron’s comments, which reflect a contemptuous attitude towards Africa and Africans.”
In his statement, read on state television, the Chadian minister stressed that he “has no problem with France”, but that “French leaders must learn to respect the African people”.
At the end of November, Chad canceled military agreements with the former colonial power.
Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko also denounced President Macron’s statement, saying in a statement that without the contribution of African soldiers in World War II to liberate France from Nazi occupation, “the France of today would be maybe still German.”
“France has neither the capacity nor the legitimacy to guarantee the security and sovereignty of Africa but on the contrary, it has often contributed to the destabilization of certain African countries such as Libya, which has led to serious consequences observed on the stability and security of the Sahel region,” declared the Senegalese Prime Minister.
Senegal
