Oueddei Kichidemi was the father of the former

Chadian President 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 ...

Goukouni Oueddei Goukouni Oueddei ( ar, كوكوني عويدي '; born 1944 in Zouar) is a Chadian politician who served as President of Chad from 1979 to 1982. A northerner, Goukouni commanded FROLINAT rebels with Libyan support during the first Chadian Civi ...

and was the tribal leader, or ''

derde The ''derde'' (derda, derdai, dardai) of Toubou residence at Zouar Tibesti is the title held by the highest religious and political authority for all Toubou Fron south Libya, north Chad, and northeast of Niger. He is elected among the three most ...

'', of the

Toubou The Toubou or Tubu (from Old Tebu, meaning "rock people") are an ethnic group native to the Tibesti Mountains that inhabit the central Sahara in northern Chad, southern Libya and northeastern Niger. They live either as herders and nomads or as ...

Teda of the

Tibesti The Tibesti Mountains are a mountain range in the central Sahara, primarily located in the extreme north of Chad, with a small portion located in southern Libya. The highest peak in the range, Emi Koussi, lies to the south at a height of and is ...

during the

First Chadian Civil War First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

Derde

The ''derde'' exercises judicial rather than executive power, arbitrating conflict and levying sanctions based on a code of compensations. During the period of

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

rule in

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

, his authority had been respected; but when Chad became independent in 1960 and the last of the French forces left the Tibesti in 1965, the Teda found themselves under the control of Chadian authorities that looked down on the Toubou as backward.

Exile

Provocations and abuses by the new authorities grew so unbearable that at the end of 1966 Kichidemi went in exile with a thousand of his followers to the

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

Kufra Kufra () is a basinBertarelli (1929), p. 514. and oasis group in the Kufra District of southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. At the end of nineteenth century Kufra became the centre and holy place of the Senussi order. It also played a minor role in ...

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 ...

. After that the President

François Tombalbaye 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 from the country's independence in 1960 until ...

stripped him of his judicial powers and refused to appoint his son Goukouni as secretary of the Bardaï tribunal. Tombalbaye had also offended the ''derde'' by supporting a rival, Chaimi Sougoumi, for a seat from Tibesti in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. What followed was an uprising of the Toubou, in which four of Kichidemi's five sons were killed, in what is considered the starting of the

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 ...

in the north. In exile Kichidemi became, with the support of Toubou students at the Islamic University of Bayda, a symbol of opposition to

the Tombalbaye Regime President François Tombalbaye faced a task of considerable magnitude when Chad became a sovereign state in 1960. His challenge was to build a nation out of a vast and diverse territory that had poor communications, few known resources, a tiny ma ...

. This role enhanced the position of the ''derde'' among the Toubou. After 1967 the ''derde'' hoped to rally the Toubou to the insurgent group FROLINAT.

Moral authority Moral authority is authority premised on principles, or fundamental truths, which are independent of written, or positive, laws. As such, moral authority necessitates the existence of and adherence to truth. Because truth does not change, the princi ...

became military authority shortly thereafter when his only surviving son, Goukouni, became in 1969 leader of the Second Liberation Army of FROLINAT.

Coup

On April 13, 1975 Tombalbaye was killed in a coup. The new government attempted to reach out to the rebels, and among those who answered was Kichidemi, who returned from his Libyan exile in August. His son, Goukouni, however, refused to respond to his entreaties or those of the government and remained in opposition. Kichidemi died a few years after, in December 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kichidemi, Oueddei Year of birth missing 1977 deaths Chadian military leaders Chadian politicians Toubou people