llayda Cakirtekin and Riyaz ul Khaliq
07 January 2025•Update: 07 January 2025
ISTANBUL
Chadian and Senegalese authorities pushed back on President Emmanuel Macron’s “contemptuous” comments following the exit of French forces from the African nations.
Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko refuted Macron’s statement that said, "No African country would be sovereign today if France had not stepped up."
Macron said in an address to the diplomatic corps Monday that African leaders had "forgotten to say thank you" to France for “helping to combat” insurgencies” in the Sahel region.
Sonko said on Facebook late Monday that "France has neither the capacity nor the legitimacy to ensure Africa's security and sovereignty.”
Paris has “often contributed to destabilizing certain African countries like Libya with disastrous consequences noted on the stability and security of the Sahel,” he added.
Chad Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah described Macron’s comments as a “contemptuous attitude towards Africa and Africans.”
“French leaders must learn to respect the African people,” he said, according to The Chad Infos.com.
Koulamallah said his government “expresses its deep concern” about the remarks by Macron.
He noted the "key role" played by Africa and Chad in the liberation of France during two world wars, which "France has never truly recognized."
Notably, Chad, which hosted the last French military bases in the Sahel region, ended the "obsolete" defense and security pacts in November with France.
Senegal and the Ivory Coast have also asked Paris to remove French soldiers and vacate military bases on their territories.
