By Tata Mbunwe
Chad’s newly elected president, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, was sworn-in Thursday in the Capital N’Djamena, with Cameroon’s Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji representing President Paul Biya.
Mahamat Déby took the oath before members of the Constitutional Council to lead Chad for the next five years.
Hundreds of dignitaries across the world attended the event, which came one week after the military leader was announced winner of the May 6 election, with 61 percent of the vote.
His opponent and Prime Minister of the transition government, Succes Masra, got 18.5 percent of the vote, which he strongly challenged as unfree and incredible.
Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno seized power in 2021 after his father was killed on the battlefield by rebels after ruling Chad for 30 years.
His swearing marks the end of military rule in the country, which before now was among six African countries under military rule.
In his acceptance speech, the newly sworn Head of State promised to restore constitutional order in the country and to be “the president of Chadians of all backgrounds and sensibilities”.
He promised to allocate 70 percent of public spending over the next five years to improve access to education, water, healthcare, energy and food security.
“Let us all be actors, committed individually and collectively to bring about this change that is so hoped for, wanted and awaited by everyone,” he said.
Among African Heads of State who attended the occasion was Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, Mauritania’s Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, Togo’s Faure Gnassingbé, the Central African Republic’s Faustin Archange Touadera, Gabonese transitional President Brice Clotaire Oligui-Nguema, Guinea-Bissau’s Umaro Sissoco Embalo and Burundi’s Evariste Ndayishimiye.
France was represented by the Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and the Francophonie, Franck Riester.
