Mahamat Déby

Mahamat Idriss "Kaka" Déby Itno (محمد إدريس ديبي إتنو; born 4 April 1984) is a Chadian four-star general serving as the transitional president of Chad.

He gained power as the president of the Transitional Military Council on 20 April 2021 when his father, the late Chadian President Idriss Déby, died in action while commanding troops in the Northern Chad offensive.

He previously served as the second in-command of the military for the Chadian Intervention in Northern Mali (FATIM).

Mahamat Déby is polygamous and has three wives.

His first wife is an ethnic Zaghawa woman.

His first combat experience took place in April 2006 when rebels attacked the capital city of Chad and he later participated in combat in eastern Chad along with General Abu Bakr al Said, then director of police, Mahamat was given the rank of major afterward.

In May 2009 he was made brigadier general and he shared command of Chadian forces during the Battle of Am Dam, where the army defeated the rebels.

Following his victory, he was appointed in command of the armored squadrons and bodyguards of the SERS.

In 2010, Déby married his second wife, a Central African woman and the daughter of Abakar Sabone—a former Central African Republic government minister, advisor to Michel Djotodia, and leader of the Movement of Central African Liberators for Justice rebel group.

It is believed that Déby and his second wife have five children.

Mahamat Déby's third wife, Dahabaya Oumar Souni, is a journalist and media advisor who is considered the First Lady of Chad.

In January 2013, he was appointed second in command of the Chadian special forces in Mali under general Oumar Bikimo.

On 22 February, he led his army against rebels in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains in northern Mali leading to the Battle of Ifoghas.

They eliminated a rebel base said to be of "significant importance", inflicting heavy losses upon the rebels but also losing twenty-six men in the process, including Abdel Aziz Hassane Adam, a commander of special forces.

Mahamat took full command of the FATIM and has since been leading operations against rebels in the North.

After Mahamat's father, Idriss Déby, died at the hands of FACT on 20 April 2021, the military announced that the elected government and National Assembly have been dissolved and that a Transitional Military Council led by Mahamat will lead the nation for 18 months.

A new charter replaced the Constitution of Chad, making Mahamat the interim President and head of the armed forces.

Some political actors within Chad have labeled the installing of the transitional military government a "coup", as the constitutional provisions regarding the filling of a presidential vacancy were not followed.

Namely, according to the constitution, the President of the National Assembly, Haroun Kabadi, should have been named Acting President after president Idriss Déby's death, and an early election called within a period of no less than 45 and no more than 90 days from the time of the vacancy.

However, one of Chad's main foreign policy allies, France, has defended the development as necessary, citing the "exceptional circumstances" caused by the rebellion.

The broader international community has also supported Déby, seeing him as a stable foothold in the Sahel.

Déby was even welcomed to Washington, D.C. as a part of a summit for African leaders.

Despite this recognition, FACT rebels have issued an open threat to the new government, stating that "Chad is not a monarchy" and vowing to continue fighting until they reach N'Djamena and depose Mahamat Déby from power.

After initially refusing to negotiate with insurgent groups, Déby softened his stance in August 2021, proposing a national dialogue.

After his proposal was met with approval by rebel groups, peace talks between government and rebel representatives started two months later.

These peace talks culminated in the August 8th, 2022 peace agreement, signed in Doha, which established a national dialogue between Déby's government and the opposition, intended to prepare the country for elections scheduled for the second half of 2022.

The peace agreement, though, was rejected by FACT and other opposition groups, as well as by civil society groups, who cited the absence of a guaranteed return to civilian rule.

This lack of support for the peace agreement led to limited participation in the national dialogue.

Without major opposition and civilian participation in the national dialogue, it concluded to extend the transition and postpone elections until at least October 2024.

In March 2023, Déby pardoned 380 jailed FACT members, many of whom were among the 400+ sentenced to life in prison for the death of his father, in an attempt to have the group join peace talks, following their non-participation in the national dialogue.

The Transitional Military Council's October 3 postponing of elections was met with significant pro-democracy demonstrations on Oct. 20th, the initial date of elections.

These demonstrations primarily took place in the cities of N'Djamena and Moundou, and were primarily orchestrated by the opposition group Wakit Tamma and Succès Masra, leader of the Les Transformateurs party.

In response to the demonstrations, government security forces violently cracked down on protesters and the government orchestrated a days long internet blackout.

The violence ended in the deaths of between 50 and 200, including journalist Orédjé Narcisse, and the arrests of at least 600.

Of those 600+, 342 ended up sentenced to between 1 and 3 years in prison for charges related to the protests.

Souni worked closely with her late father-in-law, President Idriss Déby, and was promoted to director of public relations for the office of the presidency from December 2019 until his death.

In May 2021, Dahabaya Oumar Souni was appointed as media advisor to the presidency of the Transitional Military Council and now works alongside her husband, President Mahamat Déby, as a member of his group of technical advisors.

Mahamat Déby first enrolled at the Joint Grouping of military schools in Chad.

He subsequently received training in France, at the military school of Aix-en-Provence.

Upon his return he was enrolled in second promotion of semi direct of the school of officer inter arme and later was appointed to the service branch of the Security of State Institutions (DGSSIE), as a deputy commander of its infantry group.