Regionalism, Political Decay, and Civil Strife in Chad

Samuel Decalo

doi:10.1017/S0022278X00009435

Regionalism, Political Decay, and Civil Strife in Chad

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2008

Samuel Decalo

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The creation in November 1979 of a Transitional Government of National Unity under the leadership of Wodei Goukouni was greeted by most observers with a sigh of relief and a measure of guarded optimism. The composition of the new régime in Chad, and especially the enhanced rôle of the defeated Sara south within it, may possibly stabilise a situation still exceedingly volatile and inherently unstable. Yet, as West Africa cautioned, ‘twenty years of government by a group unrepresentative of the country, pretending to fill the vacuum at the centre of power and doing so with conspicuous ineffectiveness, cannot be easily erased’.1 Even given the sincerity and goodwill of all 11 groups in the new power hierarchy – which is far from assured, because every conceivable opportunistic faction has been included – the attempt to bring unity and stability to a land that has never experienced either may easily founder against the harsh realities of sharp internal divisions.

Type: Articles
Information: The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , March 1980 , pp. 23 - 56

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X00009435 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

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References

^{page 23 note 1} ‘Encouraging Move Towards Peace in Chad’, in West Africa (London), 10 12 1979, pp. 2269–71.Google Scholar

^{page 26 note 1} At the time of the French conquest, Ouadai was the dominant power (together with Rabah's personal empire), and Abéché was the biggest urban centre in the region.

^{page 26 note 2} For some of the literature on the Sara, see Lanne, Bernard, ‘Les Populations du sud du Tchad’, in Revue française d'études politiques africaines (Paris), 07–08 1979, pp. 41–81Google Scholar; Delafosse, M., Essai sur le peuple ella langue Sara (Paris, 1897)Google Scholar; Jaulin, Robert, La Mort Sara (Paris, 1967)Google Scholar; and Kogongar, G. J., ‘Introduction à la vie et histoire précoloniales des populations Sara du Tchad’, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Paris, 1971Google Scholar.

^{page 27 note 1} See Lebeuf, Annie M. D., Les Populations du Tchad (Paris, 1959)Google Scholar; and le Rouvreur, Albert, Sahéliens et Sahariens du Tchad (Paris, 1962)Google Scholar.

^{page 27 note 2} See Diguimbaye, Georges and Langue, Robert (eds.), L'Essor du Tchad (Paris, 1969)Google Scholar.

^{page 27 note 3} Devallée, J., ‘Le Baguirmi’, in Bulletin de la société de recherches congolaises (Brazzaville), VII, 2–4, 1925, pp. 3–76Google Scholar; Pacques, V., ‘Origines et caractère du pouvoir royal au Baguirmi’, in Journal de la société des africanistes (Paris), XXXVII, 2, 1967, pp. 183–214CrossRef Google Scholar.

^{page 27 note 4} Briggs, Lloyd Cabot, Tribes of the Sahara (Cambridge, Mass., 1960)CrossRef Google Scholar; Capot-Rey, R., L'Afrique blanche française, Vol. II, Le Sahara française (Paris, 1953)Google Scholar; Cline, Walter, The Teda of Tibesti, Borku and Kawar (Menasha, 1950)Google Scholar; and Lopatinsky, O., Le Teda du Tibesti (Paris, 1973)Google Scholar.

^{page 28 note 1} Figures do not always total, due to rounding. In addition, there were an estimated 60,000, or 1·4 per cent, Europeans.

^{page 28 note 2} Thomas, F. C., ‘The Juhaina Arabs of Chad’, in Middle East Journal (Washington), XIII, 1959, pp. 143–55Google Scholar; and Courtecuisse, Louis, Quelques populations de la République du Tchad: les Arabes (Paris, 1971)Google Scholar.

^{page 28 note 3} Works, John H., ‘Pilgrims in a Strange Land: the Hausa community in Chad, 1890–1970’, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1972Google Scholar.

^{page 29 note 1} For Bornu, see Cohen, Ronald, ‘The Bornu Kingdom’, in Boston University Papers on Africa, Vol. 11, (Boston, 1966), pp. 39–83Google Scholar; Urvoy, Yves, L'Histoire de l'Empire du Bornu (Paris, 1949)Google Scholar; and Palmer, H. R., The Bornu, Sahara and Sudan (London, 1936)Google Scholar. For Ouadai, see Ferrandi, J., Abéché, capitale du Ouadai (Paris, 1913)Google Scholar; Tubiana, Marie José, ‘Un Document inédit sur les Sultans du Wadday’, in Cahiers d'études africaines (Paris), 2, 05 1960, pp. 49–112Google Scholar; and Nachtigal, Gustav, Sahara und Sudan, Vols. I-III (Berlin, 1879–1889)Google Scholar, translated into English by G. B. Allan and Humphrey J. Fisher in 1971. For Baguirmi, see Devallée, loc. cit., and Pacques, loc. cit., also Boahen, A. Adu, Britain, the Sahara and the Western Sudan, 1788–1861 (Oxford, 1964)Google Scholar, and ‘Caravan Trade in the Nineteenth Century’, in The Journal of African History (Cambridge), III, 2, 1962, pp. 349–59Google Scholar.

^{page 29 note 2} Large areas in southern Chad and in northern Central African Republic are to this day virtually depopulated consequent to these deep raids for slaves.

^{page 29 note 3} For the French conquest, see Gentil, Pierre, La Conquête du Tchad, 1894–1916, Vols. I-II (Vincennes, 1970)Google Scholar, and Ferrandi, Jean, Le Centre-africainfrançais (Paris, 1928)Google Scholar.

^{page 31 note 1} See Cohen, William B., Rulers of Empire: the French colonial service in Africa (Stanford, 1971).Google Scholar

^{page 31 note 2} It was only in 1962 that the first two Chadian doctors – Bajoglo Baroum and Outel Bono, both later to play a prominent rôle in politics – graduated and returned from France.

^{page 32 note 1} For a general overview of the economy, see World Bank, Chad. Development Potentials and Constraints (Washington, D.C., 1971)Google Scholar, and International Monetary Fund, Surveys of African Economies, Vol. 1 (Washington, D.C., 1968), pp. 176–227Google Scholar.

^{page 32 note 2} Much of the country's trade goes either via Bangui in the Central African Republic and thence to Brazzaville and Pointe Noire, or via Maiduguri to the Nigerian ports.

^{page 32 note 3} In 1979 Nigeria imposed an oil embargo on Chad in order to hasten a governmental rearrangement of power.

^{page 34 note 1} For the best discussion of this period, see le Cornec, Jacques, Histoire politique du Tchad de 1900 à 1962 (Paris, 1963)Google Scholar.

^{page 34 note 2} For biographical data on Chad leaders, see Decalo, Samuel, Historical Dictionary of Chad (Metuchen, N.J., 1977).Google Scholar

^{page 35 note 1} Indeed, when the double electoral college was abolished in 1956, most of the expatriates joined the U.D.T. successor party.

^{page 37 note 1} His cabinet included Dr Abba Siddick – later head of Frolinat – as Minister of Education.

^{page 37 note 2} For further details, see the chapter on Chad in Decalo, Samuel, Regionalism and Political Instability in Africa: three francophone case studies, forthcomingGoogle Scholar.

^{page 38 note 1} Koulamallah managed to escape to Cameroun, but was caught trying to slip into Nigeria and returned under guard to Chad.

^{page 40 note 1} Wodei Kichidemi, spiritual head of the Toubou, and political leader of the Tomaghera clan of the Teda branch.

^{page 41 note 1} Named after the French Captain, Pierre Galopin, whose May 1968 report was the basis for the reforms instituted in Chad, and who was executed in 1974 by Hissène Habré's insurgents in Tibesti during the ‘Mme Claustre affair’.

^{page 42 note 1} Africa Research Bulletin. Political, Social and Cultural Series (Exeter), September 1970.

^{page 43 note 1} ‘Chad: French Senate Row’, in West Africa (London), 6 06 1970Google Scholar; and Mitchell, C. R., ‘External Involvement in Civil Strife’, in The Yearbook of World Affairs, Vol. 26 (New York, 1972), pp. 152–86Google Scholar. See also ‘Chad: France's new colonial war’, in African Communist (Chicago), 40, 1970, pp. 79–81Google Scholar, and for the Frolinat view, Bloch, Jean, Tchad: une néo-colonie (Paris, 1972)Google Scholar, and Bloch, and Vernhes, Monique, Guerre coloniale au Tchad (Montreaux, 1972)Google Scholar. The Frolinat platform was reprinted in Etumba (Brazzaville), and can be referred to in Africa Research Bulletin, February 1970.

^{page 43 note 2} See ‘Tchad: re-investiture des chefs traditionnels’, in Afrique nouvelle (Dakar), 1157, 9–16 10 1969, p. 7Google Scholar; Le Monde (Paris), 1 10 1969Google Scholar; and ‘Chad’, in Legum, Colin (ed.), Africa Contemporary Record, 1970–1 (London, 1971), pp. 275–85Google Scholar.

^{page 43 note 3} For the long drawn-out affair (resolved only in 1977 following Habré's ouster by Goukouni), see ‘Of Desert Bondage’, in West Africa, 10 May 1976, p. 642; ‘Mme. Claustre's Ordeal’, in Africa Research Bulletin, October 1975, pp. 3767–9; and ‘Le Sort des otages français’, in Afrique contemporaine, May–June 1975, pp. 15–16.

^{page 44 note 1} West Africa, 28 January 1972.

^{page 45 note 1} ‘Chad: the killing of Outel Bono’, in West Africa, 3 September 1973, p. 1249, and ‘Light on Bono's Death’, in ibid. 20 January 1975, p. 83.

^{page 45 note 2} Africa Research Bulletin, May 1971.

^{page 45 note 3} See Afrique nouvelle (Dakar), 2–8 09 1971Google Scholar; ‘Behind the Chad Plot’, in West Africa, 17 September 1971; ‘Chad, Libya and the Rebellion’, in ibid. 14 April 1972; ‘Chad: relations with the Arabs’, in ibid. 12 March 1973. See also Afrique contemporaine, September–October 1971, and the issues of West Africa for 10 September and 1 October 1971, and 8 January 1973.

^{page 46 note 1} Ibid. 7 July 1972.

^{page 46 note 2} Le Monde, 6–7 August 1972. See also the issues of West Africa for 7 July, 4 and 25 August, 8 and 22 September, and 9 October 1972.

^{page 46 note 3} The former was Minister of Planning and Foreign Aid and the latter was Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament. For further details, see Decalo, Historical Dictionary of Chad.

^{page 47 note 1} A total of 50 French soldiers died in the 1969–72 interventions, as well as 200 Chad troops, 400 civilians, and 2,000 insurgents; Le Monde, 6–7 August 1972.

^{page 47 note 2} By 1974 Aouzou was already occupied by a strong Libyan military garrison, and defended by sophisticated surface-to-air missiles.

^{page 47 note 3} Thus Fort Lamy and Fort Archambault are now known as Ndjaména and Sarh, while the names of all foreigners were expunged from the country's streets and squares, except for those of de Gaulle and Félix Eboué; see ‘Tchad: révolution culturelle’, in Afrique contemporaine, 69, September–10 1973, p. 23.

^{page 47 note 4} These initiation rites were common among the Sara clans, and Christian missionaries had long petitioned for their abolition; in mid-1965 a compromise was reached, allowing Christian youths to partake in an abbreviated version. Tribal leaders then complained, however, that with the removal of the stigma of non-participation, a flood of conversions to Christianity had developed, accompanied by petitions for the abbreviated rites. When the full rites were made compulsory for all in 1972, numerous reports circulated of the torture and killing of recalcitrant Sara youths and even missionaries. For Tombalbaye's defence of these rites, see his ‘Expression de la civilisation Sara: initiation au Yondo méne à Dieu’, in France-Eurafrique (Brussels), 251, 11 1974, pp. 25–9Google Scholar.

^{page 48 note 1} West Africa, 9 July 1973. The trial of 32 people involved in the plot led to a seven-year sentence for Guembang and the acquittal of 21 defendants. Malloum only appeared as a witness. The ‘brevity’ of the sentences so incensed Tombalbaye that he ordered a new trial. See also Africa Research Bulletin, March 1975, and West Africa, 7 April 1975.

^{page 48 note 2} Ibid. 10 September 1973 and 15 August 1975.

^{page 49 note 1} The new M.N.R.C.S. Cabinet brought in five new Ministers and three new Secretaries of State, while its size was reduced from 26 to 18.

^{page 49 note 2} See Jeune Afrique, 28 July 1973; West Africa, 13 August 1973; and Africa Research Bulletin, August and September 1973.

^{page 49 note 3} West Africa, 3 September 1973, 15 July and 4 November 1974.

^{page 49 note 4} Ibid. 17 June and 28 October 1974.

^{page 49 note 5} Tombalbaye ‘retaliated’ by rejecting further grain deliveries from the U.S., described as ‘fit only for horses’; ibid. 28 October 1974.

^{page 50 note 1} Ibid. 12 July 1976.

^{page 50 note 2} ‘Chad: exit Tombalbaye’, in Africa Confidential (London), XVI, 8, 25 04 1975, pp. 1–3Google Scholar, and New York Times, 14 April 1975.

^{page 50 note 3} Decalo, Samuel, Coups and Army Rule in Africa (New Haven, 1976), ch. 1Google Scholar.

^{page 51 note 1} West Africa, 3 and 10 November 1975. France's acute indecisiveness in the handling of this affair dragged on until January 1977, when Qaddafi secured Claustre's release, after Habré had been ousted from power by Goukouni.

^{page 52 note 1} Le Monde, 15 April 1977. Only 20 per Cent of the armed forces (and two officers) were Muslim, and discrimination was rife. See ‘Armed Forces’, in Decalo, Historical Dictionary of Chad.

^{page 52 note 2} ‘No Peace in Chad’, in West Africa, 8 May 1978, as well as the issue for 27 March 1978.

^{page 52 note 3} ‘Whom is Chad Fighting?’, in ibid. 27 July 1977; and ‘The Many Faces of Frolinat’, in ibid. 15 August 1977.

^{page 53 note 1} A virtually non-existent ‘Third Liberation Army’ was declared in 1977 as ‘operating’ in Kanem.

^{page 53 note 2} Africa Research Bulletin, April 1978. See also ‘The Price of Peace in Chad’, in West Africa, 17 April 1978, and Le Monde, 18–29 April 1978, passim.

^{page 53 note 3} ‘Chad: reconciliation course’, in Africa (London), 10 1978Google Scholar, also ‘Opportunity for Peace in Chad’, in West Africa, 8 January 1979.

^{page 53 note 4} In light of Habré's support among the Goranes and specifically in Ennedi. See the very perceptive two-part article by Biarnes, Pierre in Le Monde, 21 and 23 01 1979Google Scholar.

^{page 54 note 1} West Africa, 19 and 26 February 1979.

^{page 54 note 2} Africa Research Bulletin, April 1979.

^{page 54 note 3} See, for example, West Africa, 18 June and 2 July 1979.

^{page 54 note 4} ‘One of Africa's worst communal massacres for years’; Financial Times, 19 March 1979.

^{page 55 note 1} West Africa, 11 June 1979.

^{page 55 note 2} Ibid.

^{page 55 note 3} Ibid. 30 April 1979.

^{page 55 note 4} For a biography of Shawa, Lol Mahamat, see Afrique contemporaine, 103, 05–06 1979Google Scholar; also, ‘Tchad: anarchic et confusion’, in ibid.

^{page 55 note 5} West Africa, 10 December 1979.

^{page 55 note 6} Ibid.

^{page 55 note 7} For the full Cabinet, see Le Monde, 9 and 13 November 1979.

^{page 56 note 1} See Decalo, Samuel, ‘Chad: center–periphery cleavages and civil strife’, in African Affairs, 07 1980Google Scholar.

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