Africans kick against naming of late Idriss Deby’s son as interim president of Chad
The shock announcement of Idriss Deby’s death on the frontline of a fight against northern rebels comes day after the 68-year-old was proclaimed the winner of a presidential election that had given him a sixth term in office.
Deby’s son, Mahamat Kaka, was named interim president by a transitional council of military officers, spokesman Azem Bermendao Agouna said in a broadcast on state television.
Announcing his death, army said Deby had been commanding his army at the weekend as it battled against rebels who had launched a major incursion into the north of the country on election day.
Deby “has just breathed his last breath defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield,” army spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna said in a statement read out on state television.
A four-star general who is Deby’s son will replace him at the head of a military council, the army said.
“A military council has been set up headed by his son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno,” Agouna said.
Some Africans have kicked against Deby’s son as his successor, tagging it “dictatorship” and wondering if the country is still controlled by the western world.
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