(N’Djamena) The German ambassador to Chad will be expelled within 48 hours for “discourteous attitude” and “non-respect of diplomatic practices”, the Chadian government announced on Friday.
The government “requests His Excellency Mr. Jan Christian Gordon Kricke, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany, to leave Chadian territory within 48 hours,” said the government spokesperson. Aziz Mahamat Saleh, in a statement.
The authorities have not given details of the charges against him.
“The reasons why the government of Chad declared our ambassador in N’Djamena persona non grata are completely incomprehensible. We are in contact with the government of Chad on this subject,” a source at the German Foreign Ministry told AFP.
Mr. Kricke has served as Ambassador to Chad since July 2021, having served in similar roles in Niger, Angola and the Philippines. He was also Germany’s special representative for the Sahel.
A government source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the authorities criticized the diplomat in particular for “interfering too much” in the “governance of the country”, as well as “remarks tending to divide Chadians”.
Mr. Kricke had received several “calls to order”, assured the same source.
General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno arrived at the head of Chad in April 2021, on the announcement of the death of his father, Idriss Déby Itno, killed at the front against rebels after leading this vast Sahelian country for 30 years. Mahamat Déby then promised the Chadians and the international community to return power to civilians through “free and democratic elections”, and not to run for the presidency.
In October, a national dialogue boycotted by a very large part of the opposition and civil society who denounce a “dynastic succession”, had appointed Mr. Déby president of a “transition” extended for two years towards “transparent” elections. “.
The German Embassy joined those of France, Spain and the Netherlands in particular, as well as the EU, to express its “concern” after the extension of the transition and the possibility for Mr. Déby to run for the presidency.