Chad President Idriss Deby sworn into fifth term

Chad President Idriss Deby was sworn in for a fifth term on Monday (August 8) after a landslide re-election victory.

Several African heads of state came to capital N’Djamena to witness the ceremony.

They included Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Laurent Kabila.

The 63-year old Deby, an important ally of the West, won a decisive 61.6 percent of the vote on the April 10 election. His campaign focused on portraying Deby as the only leader capable of ensuring security amid a rise in extremist violence.

Opposition leader Saleh Kebzabo finished a distant second with 12.8 percent of the vote, followed by Laokein Kourayo Mbaiherem with 10.6 percent.

Deby has been president of Chad since 1990, but he has pledged to reintroduce term limits at a time when other African leaders have attempted to amend their constitutions in order to extend their rule, leading to violence in Burundi, Burkina Faso and Congo Republic.

The government banned opposition rallies over the weekend and violence broke out on Saturday (August 6) and Sunday (August 7) when some defied the ban.

Chad has one of the most capable armies in central Africa and Deby has played a key role in efforts backed by the West to combat neighbouring Nigeria’s Boko Haram militants, a group affiliated with the Islamic State. Al Qaeda fighters also have a presence in the region.