General Mahamat Idriss Déby, President of the Republic of Chad, is due to be received in Paris by his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, on July 15th, 2024, the day after the celebration of France’s national holiday, July 14. The future of the French presence in Chad will be at the heart of their discussions, according to Africa Intelligence. Some 1,000 French troops are still stationed in Chad, as reported in the French newspaper “ Le Monde” .
A preliminary investigation “concerning the clothing expenses of the President, General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno”, a source close to the case told AFP on Tuesday July 2nd. The investigations were launched following an article by the Mediapart website in December 2023, which reported that the President of Chad had spent over 900,000 euros in Paris on suits, shirts and other luxury clothing, thanks to payments received from a Chadian company via a bank.
On the subject of this preliminary investigation, Armand Gambaye Djegoltar Ndjerakor, communications advisor to the Chadian presidency, told AFP of his serenity: “We hope that this investigation will establish the truth and dispel the intention to damage the reputation of the President of the Republic of Chad, the new man of values who has led a politically and historically successful transition“. The communications advisor to the Chadian presidency referred to the book written by Mahamat Idriss Déby, De Bédouin à président (2024, VA Editions), in which the latter claims to have “never been a fan of suits”, preferring “by far our traditional clothes”, and denounced a “political manipulation” orchestrated by an advisor in charge of presidential affairs and former minister of state.
1,400 French soldiers evacuated from Niger
According to the President of the French Republic, the last exchange between Emmanuel Macron and General Mahamat Idriss Déby took place by phone on Friday May 17th, 2024, when Emmanuel Macron congratulated General Mahamat Idriss Déby on his election as President of the Republic of Chad. In mid-October, the French and Chadian presidents had already met to take stock of regional crises and the withdrawal of French forces from Niger, according to a press release issued by the “Elysée Palace”. They took advantage of Mahamat Idriss Déby’s visit to Paris to discuss “all regional issues, including Sudan, Libya and Niger, as well as the return of our military resources to France”, according to the French presidency.
Forced to leave Niger after a putsch in July, the French army was evacuate 1,400 men and their equipment, for the most part via Chad. The soldiers were to fly to France from N’Djamena, while the equipment convoys were to reach the port of Douala in Cameroon. In June 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron received his Chadian counterpart Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno in Paris as part of preparations for the summit for a new global financial pact. Four months earlier, in February 2023, proof of a close relationship, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, presented as Paris’s lates in the Sahel (after the crisis with Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso) was again received at the Élysée by President Emmanuel Macron for a working lunch. The Chadian general’s visit to Paris, announced on July 15th, will be at least his fourth official trip to France in the space of 17 months.
