Causes of the civil war in Chad (1965-1982)
The
Ethnic factor: President Francois Tombalbaye made a mistake of
favouring his tribesmates at the expense of other tribes. All the top
posts in government were reserved for the Christian Saras
The harshness of Christian Saras. The Saras were appointed by president
Tombalbaye to serve as civil servants in Northern Chad.
Tombalbaye's dictatorship. Soon after becoming President, Francois
Tombalbaye banned all opposition political parties (1962), arrested his
political opponents and dealt with them violently.
Religious differences. The Northerners were Muslims who hated being
ruled by Christian Saras. They regarded Christians as infidels and
could not tolerate the Holy Bible to co-exist with the Holy Q'uran.
Over taxation and corruption. The government levied high taxes from the
Northerners who interpreted it as a calculated move to make them
poorer.
The Chaditude policy. President Tombalbaye embarked on a cultural
revolution /the Chaditude policy by which he aimed at
retraditionalizing Chad. He banned Christian names which led to
resentment.
The role of the FROLINAT. In 1966, the discontented Moslems formed the
National Liberation Front to co-ordinate the various opposition groups
in the north. The FROLINAT mobilised the Northern Moslems and
sensitised them about their rights.
Colonial legacy. The French colonial masters failed to set up sounding
political, economic and social policies that would have encouraged
unity between the north and the South.
Regional imbalances. The southern tribes who had collaborated with the
French colonialists obtained great priviledges in terms of economic and
social infrastructure.
External influence. Foreign powers intervened in the affairs of Chad by giving support to either the rebels or the government.
The indiscriminate killings of army officers. President Tombalbaye started killing army officers who were opposed to him.
The inadequacies of the 1977 cease-fire agreement. Unfortunately, the
provisions of the agreement were unsatisfactory to Goukouni of the
FROLINAT forces.
Gadafi's selfishness. President Malloum met president Muammer Gadafi
pleaded with him to stop supporting Chad's rebels. Due to his aims of
exploiting Chad's resources, Gadafi continued funding FROLINAT rebels.
The exclusion of Goukouni from the government of national unity.
Greed for power. The government of-"National Unity was locked up in
power struggles. In February 1979, Hissene Habre tried to overthrow
Malloum which led to quarrels and fresh fighting.
Absence of a national army. Right from the time of independence,
Tombalbaye and his successors failed to create a national army with
patriotic feelings for Chad.
The weakness of the OAU.
Cold War political influence. The USA and Libya turned Chad into an
ideological battle field whereby socialist Libya supplied Goukouni with
jet fighters, soviet multiple rocket launchers and 5,000 Libyan troops.
This made USA fear that Gadafi wanted to spread the socialist ideas-
Hence USA gave Hissene Habre's FAN forces financial and military
support which enabled Habre to triumph over Goukouni in June 1982.
The search for social justice. There existed Marxists like Ibrahim
Abatcha-the leader of the Union Nationale Tchadienne (UNT) and
conservatives Muslims like Ahmed Moussa- leader of the MNLT (Mouvement
Nationale de Liberation du Tchad).
National Movements and New States in Africa