In recent weeks, the Republic of Chad has witnessed demonstrations denouncing the French presence in the country, in light of France’s continued support for the Chadian military regime.
This week, several Chadian cities and towns witnessed a wave of widespread protests rejecting French influence in the country… in response to calls circulated by the opposition “Waqit Tama”(it’s time) coalition to come out with the purpose of denouncing France’s support for the Transitional Military Council that took power after the assassination of the President Idriss Déby who was killed by rebels in April 2021.
Chadian security forces suppressed the demonstrations with tear gas and water cannon, while protesters burned French flags and attacked the branches of gas stations of the French company Total, considering them as a symbol of the continuation of French colonialism.
Protesters attacked a French military base in Abeche, in the far east of the country, and destroyed a monument that was inside.
Chad is experiencing a power struggle between the military council headed by Mohamed Deby, backed by France, and between armed and civilian opposition factions, who see Deby’s rule as a continuation of the French colonization of the country.
Chad was subjected to direct French colonialism in 1920 until it gained its independence in 1960, before the country witnessed a civil war that culminated between 1979 and 1982.
Since independence, military groups and opposition factions have formed against the government under French influence. Most of these groups and factions are concentrated in the northern regions of the country.
Although the “National Salvation Movement” was able to oust the pro-French government of Hassan Habré, and form a new government headed by Idriss Deby in December 1990, Deby quickly combined the exclusivity of power and submission to French hegemony, as he continued to rule until his assassination in April 2021, and then his son inherited the empower and form a military council that gave him sole powers to rule the country.
Since Mohamed Idriss Deby took power, the country has been in a state of turmoil and conflict due to the widespread opposition rejecting his authority, and his policies to subject the country to French hegemony.
It is also mentioned that the Chadian army is actively participating in French operations in many neighboring countries, most notably its participation with more than 1,500 soldiers in the French military operation in Mali.
France deploys 5,100 elements of the “Barkhane” operations forces in the Chadian coast, and takes N’Djamena, the Chadian capital, as its command center in the region.
Despite the presence of oil wealth in the country, the living conditions of the population are extremely deteriorating. The percentage of the population below the poverty line has reached about 86% of the country’s population, including about 63% of the population living in a state of extreme poverty.
The country’s wealth is dominated by a group of foreign companies, where ExxonMobil and Glencore controlling the oil extraction sector, France’s Total dominated on distributing oil derivatives, and China’s CNPCic recently joined as a competitor to these companies.
Despite the Chadian opposition factions’ involvement in negotiations with the Chadian Military Council, the prospects for a political solution in the country seem remote, as well as the features of exiting from the circles of French hegemony that permeate the country are no less difficult, in light of the Chadian political elites historically subject to French influence, for which most of the Chadians mass movements call for getting rid of it.
