The Chadian government expressed its “deep concern following the remarks made recently by the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, which reflect a contemptuous attitude towards Africa and Africans”, indicates a press release from the Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abderaman Koulamallah read on state television Monday evening. At the end of November, Chad broke the military agreements which linked it to the former colonial power. Mr. Koulamallah recalls “that he has no problem with France” but also that “French leaders must learn to respect the African people”.
“Totally wrong.” Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, for his part, contested on Monday that the announced withdrawal of French soldiers from his country would have given rise to negotiations between Paris and Dakar and virulently disagreed with comments by President Emmanuel Macron on the French military engagement in Africa. Mr. Sonko described on social networks as “totally erroneous” the assertion according to which the announced departure of hundreds of French soldiers would follow a proposal from France which would have left the countries concerned by a reorganization of the French military presence the first to announce such withdrawals.
France was “right” to intervene militarily in the Sahel “against terrorism since 2013”, but African leaders “forgot to say thank you to us”, President Macron declared on Monday, estimating that “none of them » would not manage a sovereign country without this intervention. “It doesn’t matter, it will come with time,” quipped the French president, who was speaking at the annual meeting of French ambassadors.
« Sacrifices ». In his press release, Abderaman Koulamallah underlines in particular the “determining role” of Africa and Chad in the liberation of France during the two world wars that “France has never truly recognized” as well as “the sacrifices made by the African soldiers. “In 60 years of presence (…) the French contribution has often been limited to its own strategic interests, without any real lasting impact for the development of the Chadian people,” he criticized.
“The Chadian people aspire to full sovereignty, true independence, and the construction of a strong and autonomous State,” added Mr. Koulamallah. Chad had announced by surprise on November 28 that it was ending the military agreement between Paris and N’Djamena, marking the end of sixty years of military cooperation since the end of French colonization. Withdrawal operations by the French army began in December.
Chad was France’s last foothold in the Sahel, with around a thousand soldiers stationed, mainly at Camp Kossei in the Chadian capital N’Djamena. French troops and fighter planes have been stationed in Chad almost continuously since independence in 1960, used to educate and train the Chadian military. The former colonial power had up to more than 5,000 soldiers in the Sahel as part of the anti-jihadist operation Barkhane, stopped at the end of November 2022.
“Reorganization”. Between 2022 and 2023, four former French colonies, Niger, Mali, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso, have ordered Paris to withdraw its army from their territories, where it was historically established, and have moved closer to Moscow. Last month, within a few hours of each other, Senegal and Chad in turn announced the departure of French soldiers from their soil and formalized a “reorganization”. In January, Ivory Coast also announced that the French military base at Port-Bouet near Abidjan would be handed over to the country.
According to Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, in power since 2021, these agreements were “completely obsolete”, faced with “the political and geostrategic realities of our time”. Last May, three years of transition ended in N’Djamena, with the election of Mahamat Idriss Déby, brought to power by a military junta after the death of his father Idriss Déby, killed by rebels at the front in 2021. Threatened by rebel offensives, Déby senior was able to count on the support of the French army to repel them in 2008 and then in 2019.
Ali Alas SO
© Agence France-Presse
