Senegal and Chad rebuke Macron over 'inaccurate' French troop withdrawal claims

Melissa Chemam with RFI
·1-min read
Senegal's Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko during a press conference, in Dakar, on 26 September 2024.

The Senegalese prime minister and the Chadian foreign minister have condemned claims made by Emmanuel Macron regarding negotiations about the withdrawal of French troops from several African countries, dismissing them as inaccurate.

Macron said during his discours that the announced withdrawal of French military bases had been negotiated between the African countries involved and France. He claimed it was purely out of convenience and politeness that France allowed these African nations to make the announcement first.

The remarks were made at the annual conference of ambassadors held this year on 6 and 7 January in Paris.

However, Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko criticised Macron's remarks as "completely inaccurate," while Chadian Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah described them as disdainful.

Chad's position

Chad's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abderaman Koulamallah, dismissed the French President's remarks in a statement broadcast on national television.

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"The Government of the Republic of Chad expresses its deep concern over recent comments by the president of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, which reveal a disdainful attitude towards Africa and Africans," Koulamallah said.

He added that, despite 60 years of presence in the country, France’s contribution has often been "limited to serving their own strategic interests, with little genuine or lasting impact on the development of the Chadian people."

He concluded by urging Macron to focus on “addressing the issues concerning the French people.”

Sonko responds

Diplomatic mistakes


Read more on RFI English

Read also:
France to reduce military presence in West and Central Africa
Senegal buys back library of poet-president Léopold Senghor from France
French lawyer for Senegalese opposition leader jailed in Dakar

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