In Chad, the "SHT gate", a scandal of embezzlement of oil revenues, now threatens not only its authors, but also the government. Will junta leader Mahamat Déby demand the resignation of Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacké?
Will the head of the Chadian government Albert Pahimi Padacké be affected by the “SHT gate” scandal? For more than a month, this case of embezzlement of the income of the Chadian Hydrocarbons Company (SHT) has monopolized the headlines of the Chadian media. According to Confidential Afrique, which first revealed the disappearance of more than 180 million dollars from the coffers of the State of Chad, Padacké was not overly concerned by the accusations of corruption.
So why is the Union of Trade Unions of Chad (UST) asking for the head of the Prime Minister? And why has Mahamat Déby already started a purge in the government?
Last Saturday, the president of the Transitional Military Council (CMT) - the Chadian junta - Mahamat Déby assured that he would be "intractable in the face of proven embezzlement". He assures that "more than 80% of the income stolen from the SHT has been recovered". Mahamat Déby, however, threatens "those who have confused the state coffers with their dairy cows".
The "SHT gate", a scandal exploited by Déby?
The embezzlement in this case was reportedly discovered by the Chadian presidency last June. Investigators brought to light an offshore account where the money was transferred. On June 23, Mahamat Déby dismissed by decree his private secretary Idriss Youssouf Boy, the boss of the SHT Boayom Michel and his deputy Tahir Souleymane. Mahamat Déby then had the CEO of Orabank Chad, Mamadou Bass, arrested by the intelligence services (ANR).
As a reminder, Orabank, formerly Financial Bank, belongs to the Oragroup holding company and is present in 12 countries in Central and West Africa. COBAC — the Financial Commission of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) — as well as Oragroup sent two delegations to N'Djamena.
Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacké did not comment on the scandal. His Finance Minister Tahir Nguilin, for his part, declared that he had no connection with the "SHT gate", "neither near nor far", hammered the minister.
Chadian civil society, in this case the Center for Studies and Research on Governance (Cergied), has called for an exceptional independent audit of the case. Indeed, as the opponent Succès Masra explains, “embezzlement has been commonplace in Chad for decades”.
In place of Youssouf Boy, Mahamat Déby has appointed Ismael Souleyman Lony as the new private secretary (SP). A position that replaces the Secretary General of the Presidency. Lony is known as the sworn enemy of the former First Lady Hinda Déby Itno, who constitutes an opposing wing to Mahamat Déby in the seraglio of the Pink Palace.
From Hinda Déby and the “Acyl network” to Albert Pahimi Padacké, there is only one step
As a reminder, Mahamat Déby was forced to appoint a civilian government after his coup in April 2021. As soon as his father Idriss Déby died, First Lady Hinda Déby Itno fled the country to Cameroon. It was in Douala that Hinda Déby then met Joseph Beti Assomo, Paul Biya's Minister of Defense, and Albert Pahimi Padacké, before they went together to N'Djamena for the funeral of Idriss Déby.
Four days later, Padacké was reappointed as Prime Minister in Chad. However, it is common knowledge that the head of government was not one of the favorites for the post. Eternal opponent, and one of the rare politicians of Chad to never have called upon the militias or committed violence, his nomination was very unexpected.
Read: The Chadian crisis, between opposition, ethnicity and French interference
On May 3, 2021, Hinda Déby Itno returned to Chad, where she remained until December, when the junta arrested two of the former First Lady's brothers, including Mahamat Déby's former aide-de-camp. Khoudar Mahamat Acyl. The arrest of the latter sowed the seeds of discord between Mahamat Déby and Albert Pahimi Padacké. A dispute that got worse after the dismissal of former President Goukouni Weddeye from the national dialogue from Qatar.
This Sunday, Mahamat Déby had two members of the Padacké government unilaterally replaced. The latter's chief of staff Abdelkérim Déby, whom he had replaced by the Minister of the Economy Mahamat Hamid Koua. And in Koua's place, Mahamat Déby appointed his former adviser Moussa Saleh Batraki.
A small reshuffle which suggests others at the head of the government. The “SHT gate” scandal was clearly an opportunity for Mahamat Déby to place his allies in government and to deprive Albert Pahimi Padacké of his own. But also to bring down the last allies of Hinda Déby. But while the investigation into "SHT gate" is not yet closed, will Mahamat Déby also bring down Albert Padacké? In any case, the Prime Minister has long since passed into the background in the governance of Chad. And while the political transition is slipping, Mahamat Déby is on the way to securing total control over the state apparatus.