” Contempt “ et “neocolonial paternalism”: the words of President Macron considering in particular that African leaders had “forgot to say thank you” in Paris for its intervention in the Sahel continued to cause controversy on Tuesday, in Africa but also in France.
The Chadian president expressed his « indignation » and estimated that Emmanuel Macron “is in the wrong era” the day after the comments of his French counterpart who particularly regretted that African leaders had “forgot to say thank you” to France for its intervention in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel.
“I would like to express my indignation at the comments recently made by President Macron which border on contempt towards Africa and Africans. I think he’s got the wrong era.” said Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno in a speech delivered during a greeting ceremony at the presidential palace and published on the Facebook page of the Chadian presidency.
The President of Chad, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, waves before a working lunch at the Elysée presidential palace, in Paris, February 6, 2023 / Ludovic MARIN / AFP/Archives
Also on Tuesday, in France, the radical left party La France insoumise (LFI) denounced in a press release comments which “relate to a blindness that borders on madness” and reveal “a neocolonial paternalism that is simply intolerable”.
France had « raison » to intervene militarily in the Sahel “against terrorism since 2013”but African leaders have “forgot to say thank you”Emmanuel Macron declared on Monday in Paris during the conference of ambassadors, believing that“none of them” would not manage a sovereign country without this intervention.
“We proposed to African heads of state to reorganize our presence. As we are very polite, we let them have priority over the announcement”Mr. Macron declared on Monday, referring to the French military withdrawal, generally forced, from a number of African countries in recent years.
“As far as Chad is concerned, the decision to terminate the military cooperation agreement with France is entirely a sovereign decision of Chad. There is no ambiguity in this.” retorted President Déby.
The Chadian government reacted on Monday evening by expressing its “deep concern” and denouncing “a contemptuous attitude towards Africa and Africans”.
“We have it bad”
The French president’s statements were also condemned on Monday in Senegal by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko who also disputed that the announced withdrawal of French soldiers from his country would have given rise to negotiations between Paris and Dakar.
In Paris, a diplomatic source tried on Tuesday to temper Mr. Macron’s comments.
“Chad and Senegal were absolutely not targeted by these remarks since what was announced by Dakar and N’Djamena was already recorded, we agreed on the purpose – it is just the timing of these announcements which surprised »she told AFP.
Archive photo of a French army Mirage 2000 taking off from the N’Djamena base (Chad) on December 22, 2018 / Ludovic MARIN / AFP/Archives
“It’s a sentence taken out of context but if you look at his speech just before he talks about French human losses in the Sahel (58 deaths in less than a decade): he was clearly targeting the countries of the AES (the Alliance of the Sahel States, editor’s note) and in particular Mali »she stressed, adding: “We all have it bad with Mali when we see the system, the human and financial investment that it represented for years at the request of the Malian authorities, and when we thought we were doing well”.
“So yes the president expressed something disappointing for us but also for the populations concerned, it is so disappointing; the lesson is that we need a transactional approach like the others (non-African partners) and stop being the fools of the joke”she concluded
Anti-France demonstration in N’djamena, December 6, 2024 in Chad / Denis SASSOU GUEIPEUR / AFP
Last month, Senegal and Chad announced the departure of French soldiers from their soil.
Chad was France’s last anchor point in the Sahel, where France had up to more than 5,000 soldiers as part of the anti-jihadist operation Barkhane, stopped at the end of November 2022.
Between 2022 and 2023, four other 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.