N’Djamena, Jan 11, 2019 (AFP) – Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno has sacked two members of his cabinet, including the oil minister, a presidential decree announced Friday. Oil and Energy Minister Boukar Michel and Ndolenodji Alixe Naimbaye, minister for information technology and communication were both fired. The official statement gave no reason for their sackings and named no successor. But ministry sources accused Michel of having sold the rights to an oil field to two different businesses, one Chinese and the other Taiwanese.
Chad became an oil-producing country in 2003 before which its economy was based mainly on agriculture, but 40 percent of the country still live in poverty. Like other oil-producing countries it was hit by the 2014 sharp fall in oil prices. Deby is one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders. He took power in 1990 and won a disputed fifth term in April 2016.
