Chad: 36 Years of Political Parties Without Ideology and a Country Left in Ruins
Image: Chadian President, Marshal Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, with the National Mediator, Ambassador Saleh Kebzabo.By: Joe the Mutant – #Charilogone Editorial Team
In the beginning, Chad had 721 registered political parties, including 336 legally recognized ones, all without ideology, for a population of about 20 million inhabitants. Most of these parties were created by Marshal Déby Senior, which allowed him to rule for 31 years with almost no opposition. We witnessed the political migration of Kebzabo’s UNDR, which has now become an ally of the MPS. Marshal Déby Senior ran alone in six elections over 31 years and died in atrocious conditions before our bewildered eyes.
What do the people think of these party leaders?
The militants of all these parties have no political consciousness. An arbitrary, inhumane, or outrageous decision no longer provokes collective indignation. From North to South, the regime of Marshal Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno harms the population, notably through extrajudicial executions, without stirring the slightest reaction. Someone is surrounded, eliminated, and the militants of these parties do not even protest to condemn the actions of the ANS. The lack of political awareness is glaring. The latest human rights report on Chad, published in Geneva, reveals the barbaric and bloodthirsty nature of Kaka’s regime.
The population believes—rightly—that politics is a profession for idlers. They have understood that to live comfortably and make money, one must be well positioned. Being well positioned means standing at the right hand of President Marshal Kaka, a man of few words who listens to all his flatterers.
Examples of political misconduct abound:
Kebzabo Saleh (UNDR) seized all travel‑related contracts during the transition as president of CODNI. No report or supporting documents were submitted to the Head of State or to the Court of Accounts. He has a grandson born in China and travels freely across all continents.
Pahimi Padacké Albert, eldest political son of Déby Senior, spent about ten years as Prime Minister, placing his men throughout the state apparatus and reforming most administrative vehicles. His last lucrative scheme was occupying the renovated Chari Hotel, equipped with new furnishings, which he appropriated during the transition before handing his position to Kebzabo. He is said to be the politician with the most three‑story buildings and restaurant chains in the capital.
Kalzeubé Pahimi escaped the COVID funds audit and allegedly left with a substantial fortune—enough to leave a castle to his children.
Guelengdouksia, retired in his village of Mbainamar, enjoys the highest pension in the country: international civil servant, Prime Minister, MPS militant—he has enough to “produce” more children in the village.
Kassiré Delwa Koumakoye, president of Viva RNDP, took his share during the presidency of the Forum for the Fourth Republic, drafting texts that concentrated all powers in the hands of the “enlightened guide” Déby Itno.
Kabadi Haroun, the MPS’s grey eminence, with dual nationality, invested all his wealth in Houston, USA. Still in office despite his age and illness, he has held key positions: director of Cotontchad, Prime Minister, President of the National Assembly, President of the Senate. Imagine the size of his pension.
Some will say this is nothing compared to the politico‑military elites of the BET, accustomed to receiving money in “choual” sacks: 2 billion for Nouri, 2 billion for Tom Erdimi and his brother… It is tradition in the BET. Even Takilal, brigadier general of the “clando‑man party,” acquired five villas in four years, with Marshal Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno as his wedding witness and Saleh Kebzabo as his father‑in‑law.
This is the visible part of the iceberg of political consequences in Chad. The most politically active groups come from Mayo‑Kebbi, and yet, to celebrate March 8th, the women of Midiguil, 17 km from Pala, had to carry stones on their heads to fill a road that becomes impassable during the rainy season. Worse still: a primary school built under Ngarta Tombalbaye, located 50 km from Baouré near a cement factory in which two former Prime Ministers are shareholders, collapsed and killed children. No national mourning. The sitting Prime Minister, Ambassador Alla‑Maye Halina, went to pay the State’s Dia, and the matter was forgotten.
All these politicians remained in office for at least two, three, or four five‑year terms. In their respective villages, there is no morgue, no bakery, no helicopter landing strip. After 36 years of governance, Chad remains a heavily indebted poor country, with some of the lowest human development indicators in the world.
Our friends from GCAP, the politicians who resisted the government trough the longest, have nothing left to hope for. After everything the Déby family has put them through, the best thing for them would be to leave politics once and for all. Their militants also lack political consciousness. What pride can they draw from their actions?
Politics, in principle, is a noble mission—the realization of a societal project. Chadian politicians, however, have retained only one lesson from Karl Marx on capitalism:
“Financial interest speaks all languages and plays all roles, even those of the most selfless.”
Kaka will never succeed with the current Chadian political class. My only advice, as a citizen, is to dissolve all Chadian political parties and change the paradigm: build Chad with civil society. That would be better. Will he read me or listen to me?
Changing the actors of development is the only viable solution for our country.
We have never tried that before.
By: Joe the Mutant – #Charilogone Editorial Team
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