François Tombalbaye ( ar, فرنسوا تومبالباي '; 15 June 1918 – 13 April 1975), also known as N'Garta Tombalbaye, was a Chadian politician who served as the first
President of Chad
This is a list of heads of state of Chad since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day.
A total of six people have served as head of state of Chad (not counting two Interim Heads of State). Additionally, one pers ...
from the country's independence in 1960 until his overthrow in 1975. A dictatorial leader, his divisive policies as president led to factional conflict and a pattern of authoritarian leadership and political instability that are still relevant in Chad today.
A native of the south of the country, Tombalbaye began his career as a teacher during
French colonial rule and joined the
Chadian Progressive Party
The Chadian Progressive Party (french: Parti Progressiste Tchadien, PPT), known as the National Movement for the Cultural and Social Revolution (french: Mouvement National pour la Révolution Culturelle et Sociale, MNRCS) for the last two years of ...
(PPT) in 1946. After serving in the colonial legislature in the 1950s, he succeeded
Gabriel Lisette
Gabriel Francisco Lisette (2 April 1919 – 3 March 2001) was a Chadian politician who played a key role in the decolonization of Chad.
Biography
Of African descent, he was born at Portobelo in Panama on 2 April 1919. He became a French colon ...
as the PPT's leader in 1959 and was appointed the country's first president upon gaining independence in 1960. In 1962, he declared the PPT the
sole legal party and presided over a corrupt dictatorship characterized by extreme favoritism to his southern-based patronage network. He also attempted an Africanization program that worsened the divide between the Muslim north and the Christian and animist south. In 1965,
tax riots erupted into a
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
between his government and northern
FROLINAT
FROLINAT (french: Front de libération nationale du Tchad; en, National Liberation Front of Chad) was an insurgent rebel group active in Chad between 1966 and 1993.
Origins
The organization was a result of the political union between the left ...
rebels. During the war, his regime was supported by
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, while FROLINAT was supported by
Libyan
Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...
leader
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
.
In 1973, he founded a new party, the
National Movement for the Cultural and Social Revolution (MNRCS), changed his name to N'Garta Tombalbaye and attempted to further Africanize the country through a program of ''
authenticité''. As the civil war continued and his support in the south dwindled, he was overthrown and assassinated by members of the Chadian military during the
1975 Chadian coup d'état
The 1975 Chadian coup d'état was in considerable part generated by the growing distrust of the president of Chad, François Tombalbaye, for the army. This distrust came in part from the Chadian Armed Forces (FAT) incapacity to deal with the re ...
and replaced by
Félix Malloum
Félix Malloum or Félix Malloum Ngakoutou Bey-Ndi ( ar, فليكس معلوم '; 10 September 1932 – 12 June 2009) was a Chadian military officer and politician who served as the second President of Chad from 1975 to 1978.
A native of s ...
.
Early life
Tombalbaye was born on 15 June 1918 in the village of Bessada,
Moyen-Chari (prefecture) in the southern region of the
French colony of Chad, close to the city of
Koumra
Koumra (Arabic: قمرة, ''Qumra'') is a town in southern Chad. It is the capital of the region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physica ...
. His father was a prominent trader and he was of the
Sara
Sara may refer to:
Arts, media and entertainment Film and television
* ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui
* ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda
* ''Sara'' (2010 film), 2010 Sri Lankan Sinhal ...
ethnic group, the prominent ethnicity of Chad's five southern prefectures. He attended a primary school, run by Protestant missionaries, in
Sarh
Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is only a passive det ...
, and secondary school in
Brazzaville
Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...
. As a young man, Tombalbaye studied to become an educator in the
Republic of Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
's capital of
Brazzaville
Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...
, due to the lack of in-country schools.
During World War II, Tombalbaye fought for
Free France
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
against the Nazi-backed
Vichy regime
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...
.
Early political career
In 1946, Tombalbaye formed a chapter of the
Chadian Progressive Party
The Chadian Progressive Party (french: Parti Progressiste Tchadien, PPT), known as the National Movement for the Cultural and Social Revolution (french: Mouvement National pour la Révolution Culturelle et Sociale, MNRCS) for the last two years of ...
(PPT) in Sarh and rallied members of his clan and other Sara speakers to the party. After a Muslim trader mocked the Sara people as mere beasts in November 1947, he helped to direct violent protest in N'Djamena. In 1949, the French government revoked his teaching position as punishment to his involvement in political activism. A year later, he went on to direct the PPT newspaper, ''AEF Nouvelle'' but shut down the same year after French repression. In 1952, he won a seat in the colonial territorial assembly and was elected to French Equatorial Africa general council in 1957, where he served as vice-president. Tensions between him and Lisette grew in the late 1950s after the 1956 ''loi-cadre'' reforms where individual colonies politicians are allowed to negotiate their own constituents, rather than maintain the federation of colonies of French Equatorial Africa. He later succeeded
Gabriel Lisette
Gabriel Francisco Lisette (2 April 1919 – 3 March 2001) was a Chadian politician who played a key role in the decolonization of Chad.
Biography
Of African descent, he was born at Portobelo in Panama on 2 April 1919. He became a French colon ...
as head of the
Chadian Progressive Party
The Chadian Progressive Party (french: Parti Progressiste Tchadien, PPT), known as the National Movement for the Cultural and Social Revolution (french: Mouvement National pour la Révolution Culturelle et Sociale, MNRCS) for the last two years of ...
(PPT) in March 1959 after coming under pressure, heading Chad's
colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
government from 1959. He ruled the country during its independence on 11 August 1960, and was appointed its first head of government.
Presidency
Tombalbaye managed to create a coalition of progressive forces from both the north and south of the country and isolating the more conservative
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic factions in the center as a colonial legislator. After independence, he adopted an autocratic form of government, eliminated opposition both within his party and outside his party by banning all other political parties. In 1963 Tombalbaye dissolved the National Assembly in response to rioting. He began nationalizing the
civil service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
, replacing
French administrators with less competent locals. He imposed a "National Loan", greatly increasing taxing, to fund the nationalization.
In October 1968, Tombalbaye was a guest of President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Following brief talks with Johnson, he traveled to Texas, meeting with research scientists at ICASALS (International Center for Arid and Semiarid Land Studies), part of
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...
.
Tombalbaye's
Africanization
Africanization or Africanisation (lit., making something African) has been applied in various contexts, notably in geographic and personal naming and in the composition of the civil service via processes such as indigenization.
Africanization ...
program failed to account for the large population in the north and center of the country, who were
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
and did not identify with the
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
and
animist
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...
south. The Gorane saw independence as a shift of control from French colonials to the south. On 1 November 1965,
riots
A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targeted ...
in
Guéra Prefecture Guéra or Guera may refer to:
* Guéra Prefecture, a former first-level administrative division of Chad until 1999
* Guéra Region Guéra or Guera may refer to:
* Guéra Prefecture, a former first-level administrative division of Chad until 1999 ...
led to 500 deaths as a result of protest against high taxes and corruption. This sparked a series of disturbances throughout the north and center of the country, compounded by involvement by Chad's neighbors,
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
to the north and
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
to the east. The most prominent movement in this period was the
FROLINAT
FROLINAT (french: Front de libération nationale du Tchad; en, National Liberation Front of Chad) was an insurgent rebel group active in Chad between 1966 and 1993.
Origins
The organization was a result of the political union between the left ...
, or 'National Liberation Front of Chad', based in Sudan. Though FROLINAT was plagued by rivalry and division, it was able to resist Tombalbaye's authoritarianism. Tombalbaye called upon France, Chad's former colonial power, for assistance, citing treaties two countries had signed at independence.
France agreed to enter the fray, provided that Tombalbaye initiate a series of reforms to the army, government, and civil service. Taxes and laws imposed arbitrarily by Tombalbaye were to be rescinded, and the country's traditional
sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
s had their role as tax collectors restored, for which they received 10% of the income. He agreed to France's terms in 1969 and Chad embarked on a gradual liberalization process. In
elections in 1969, several hundred
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
s were released from prison, but Tombalbaye was still the only candidate on the ballot.
A further sign of liberalization came in 1971 when Tombalbaye admitted to the Congress of the PPT that he had made mistakes. Steps were taken to reform the government, and more ''Gorane'' were included in his new government. Order seemed to have been restored, and France withdrew its troops from the country.
During the early 1970s, he chose to follow DRC strongman
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
in his move towards remaking African cultural institutions.
Progress came to a grinding halt in August 1971, when an attempted
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
with links to Libyan leader
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
was uncovered. Tombalbaye immediately severed relations with his northern neighbor and even allowed anti-Qadhafi forces to operate from his territory. In return, Qadhafi granted formal recognition and aid to what remained of the FROLINAT opposition to Tombalbaye. Meanwhile, in the south, where Tombalbaye had his greatest support, he responded to a
strike
Strike may refer to:
People
* Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
by students by replacing the popular Chief of Staff
Jacques Doumro with
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Félix Malloum
Félix Malloum or Félix Malloum Ngakoutou Bey-Ndi ( ar, فليكس معلوم '; 10 September 1932 – 12 June 2009) was a Chadian military officer and politician who served as the second President of Chad from 1975 to 1978.
A native of s ...
. Chad was in the grip of a crippling
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
, and Tombalbaye rescinded his
amnesty
Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...
to political prisoners. By the end of 1972, over 1,000 political prisoners had been arrested. At the same time, he also made overtures to the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
, reducing Libyan support for, and fomenting infighting in, FROLINAT.
Nevertheless, Tombalbaye felt insecure with his own government as well. Tombalbaye arrested major PPT leaders, including Malloum, for allegedly using
witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
to overthrow him in what was known as the "Black Sheep Plot," for the animals they allegedly
sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
d. The politician
Kalthouma Nguembang
Kalthouma Nguembang was a Chadian politician, who was an early member of the Chadian Progressive Party (PPT). She was elected to the National Assembly of Chad in 1968, but was later imprisoned by François Tombalbaye who accused her of plotting ...
was also implicated in this plot; she was arrested and tortured as a result.
In August, Tombalbaye disbanded the PPT and replaced it with the
National Movement for the Cultural and Social Revolution (MNRCS). Under the guise of ''
authenticité'', the new movement promoted Africanization: the capital of Fort-Lamy was renamed
N'Djamena
N'Djamena ( ) is the capital and largest city of Chad. It is also a special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements''.
The city serves as the centre of economic activity in Chad. Meat, fish and cotton processing are the ...
and Tombalbaye himself changed his given name from François to Ngarta.
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
was disparaged,
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
were expelled, and all non-Muslim males in the south between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to undergo traditional initiation rites known as ''yondo'' in order to gain promotion in the civil service and the military. These rites, however, were native to only one of Chad's ethnic groups, Tombalbaye's own
Sara people
The Sara people are a Central Sudanic ethnic group native to southern Chad, the northwestern areas of the Central African Republic, and the southern border of North Sudan. They speak the Sara languages which are a part of the Central Sudanic lang ...
, and even then, only to a subgroup of that people. To everyone else, the rituals were harsh and foreign.
Overthrow and death
Meanwhile, the drought worsened throughout Africa, so in order to improve the dismal economy, people were forced to "volunteer" in a major effort to increase
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
production. With his support in the south diminished, Tombalbaye lashed out at the army, making arbitrary promotions and demotions. Finally, on 13 April 1975, after some of the country's leading officers had been arrested for involvement in an alleged
coup, the details include that he was shot in his own palace, the shots wounded him but soon after, Tombalbaye succumbed to his gunshot wounds and died and secretly buried his body in
Faya. The military installed Félix Malloum, by then a
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
, as the new head of state.
See also
*
Decolonization in Chad
*
Tombalbaye government
References
''Chad: A Country Study''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tombalbaye, Francois
Heads of state of Chad
Assassinated Chadian politicians
Leaders ousted by a coup
1918 births
1975 deaths
Assassinated heads of state
Assassinated heads of government
Male murder victims
Chadian Progressive Party politicians
Chadian Christians
People murdered in Chad
Chadian independence activists
Chadian–Libyan conflict
French military personnel of World War II
People of French Equatorial Africa
People from Moyen-Chari Region
1960s in the Central African Republic
1970s in the Central African Republic
Sara people