The African Union announces the appointment of a new High Representative in Chad. It is the Congolese Basile Ikouébé, who already holds the post of special envoy for the AU in Ndjamena and who will therefore combine the two positions. This is the epilogue about the deviation that stood the African Union against the ruling military junta after the appointment of Senegalese Ibrahima Fall, which the Transitional Military Council rejected.
The deal began with the appointment of Ibrahima Fall in April last year. Ndjamena then immediately refused to receive him and condemned a procedural error. Transitional Military Councilaccuses the African Union of violating its sovereignty by not consulting it before its appointment or officially notifying it, which the African institution rejects.
Two weeks ago, the AU’s peace and security commissioner, the Nigerian Bankolé Adéoye, from Ndjamena, in which he hurried to try to end this crisis, announced that this dispute was “settled” without further details. Everyone was therefore waiting until Thursday night and this note was verbal from the President of the Commission of the African Union who in a way signs a victory for the military junta in power in Chad.
It is now official: the Congolese Basile Ikouébé has been appointed High Representative for the Transition. He wears a double hat because he was already a special envoy with his seat in the Chadian capital, which corresponds to the ambassador of the African Union. As such, he is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Peace and Security Council Resolution on Chad.
► To read also: Chad: between CMT and the African Union, three-month relationship under tension
In Ndjamena we have a modest triumph. “Nobody won,” commented government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah, adding that “things are now back to normal”. But far from the microphones, many officials in this country are talking about a “real snub” for Moussa Faki Mahamat, the president of the African Union Commission.
No reaction so far from Addis Ababa, where a diplomat believes that everything happened because they made an exception by not sanctioning the coup on April 20, 2021.
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