Culture
The cultural differences between Chad’s many ethnic groups are sometimes great. An important dividing line is between the south, whose inhabitants are generally more Western-influenced and able to read and write to a greater extent, and northern Chad, where modern education is less common and traditions stronger.
Many Chadian peoples are prominent in handicrafts such as weaving, wood carving, silversmithing and goldsmithing, leather work and more. Decorated gourds are used as musical instruments, among other things. The village of Gaoui outside the capital N’Djamena is famous for its pottery.
Music and dance are important elements in many Chadian cultures. In the Tibetan Mountains in the north, ceremonial music is played with lute and violin, while drums and wind instruments are common in Kanem in the west. The Fulani people use flutes, or reed pipes, made of straw.
According to Countryaah, the tradition of orally performing folk legends is strong. The Griots – singing storytellers – perform the traditional songs and poems of the Arab people to the accompaniment of a five-string cheek, a harp-like instrument. They also use trumpets made of fenugreek.
Chad has several prominent authors. Among them is Joseph Brahim Seid, who among other things wrote the autobiography Un enfant du Chad (1967). Serge Issa Coelo has been called the country’s foremost filmmaker and Mahamat-Saleh Haroun attracted attention in 2003 with his film Bye Bye Africa.
2020
June
The parliamentary elections are postponed again
June 9
The electoral authority postpones the parliamentary elections that should have been held in December 2020 due to the corona pandemic. The election has thus been postponed five times since 2015. Reasons stated by President Déby earlier are that the poor country cannot afford to organize an election and that the threat from Boko Haram makes an election impossible to carry out. A few weeks later, October 24, 2021 is set as a new election date. Parliamentary elections were held at the latest in 2011. At that time, a Déby-friendly parliament was elected for a four-year term.
- Countryaah: Overview of the capital city of Chad, including information about its population, economy, geography, history and map.
May
The capital is quarantined
May 8
The capital N’Djamena is isolated from the rest of the country in an attempt to curb the spread of the corona virus, the government announces. Of 117 confirmed cases of corona-infected residents, 115 have been discovered in N’Djamena. Ten residents have died in covid-19. Travel in and out of the city is prohibited, face masks must be worn in the city and a nightly curfew is introduced. At the same time, a large outbreak of measles has hit Chad.
April
Death penalty for terrorist crimes abolished
April 28
According to Abbreviationfinder, Chad abolishes the death penalty for terrorist offenses. For other crimes, the death penalty was abolished in 2016, but the government then made an exception for terrorist-related crimes. The most recent execution was carried out in August 2015 when ten suspected members of Boko Haram were arched. The legislative amendment is being made in order for Chad to have the same penalty scale as other countries within the G5 Sahel group, which also includes Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Mauritania. Chad’s army is central to G5 Sahel’s joint counter-terrorism force. The force consists of 5,000 men and collaborates with French soldiers.
March
War zone on Lake Chad
March 27th
President Déby explains the two departments of Fouli and Kaya on Lake Chad as war zones. It empowers local authorities to more vigorously respond to attacks against jihadists. Among other things, the police and military can stop traffic and transport and do the house search in private homes, both daytime and nighttime.
About 100 dead when Boko Haram attacks army base
March 23rd
Boko Haram kills nearly 100 Chadian government soldiers during a multi-hour attack on an army base on an island in Lake Chad. The attack is the deadliest that the jihadist group has so far carried out against Chad’s armed forces. The wetland areas around Lake Chad are subject to increasingly frequent attacks by the jihadists. Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon border the vulnerable area.
Measures against coronary pandemic
March 19
Chad closes its airports in an attempt to prevent the spread of the new corona virus, which has caused a pandemic. However, Chadians who are abroad are allowed to return home, and freight flights are exempted from the ban. The border crossings to Sudan and the Central African Republic are closed. Chad has a confirmed case of coronary infection at the time of the decisions.
February
December parliamentary elections
February 14th
Chad will hold parliamentary elections on December 13, the country’s electoral authority announces. The election would have been held five years ago, but has been postponed due to Boko Haram’s advances in terror and the poor security situation that this creates in parts of Chad, especially in the area of Lake Chad. Elections were held at the latest in 2011. Parliament is dominated by supporters of President Déby. The electoral movement will start on November 21. In connection with the election, the number of Members in Parliament is reduced from 188 to 161.
January
The state of emergency is lifted
January 25
The government revokes the state of emergency in northern and eastern Chad since the level of violence there has dropped significantly. According to Defense Minister Abali Sala, the government’s efforts to combat violence between farmers and livestock farmers in the Quaddai and Sila regions have been successful; thousands of weapons were collected from civilians. The state of emergency was introduced in August 2019. According to President Déby, the violence escalated due to illegal importation of weapons from conflict zones in Libya, Central African Republic and Sudan.
Strength is taken home from Nigeria
January 4th
Chad withdraws its force from 1,200 soldiers from Nigeria, where the Chadian army has for a month helped the neighboring country to fight Boko Haram. According to the army management, the mission is completed and the soldiers are now placed in the area around Lake Chad where jihadists are active.