Masra
By Oyinkan Aremu
Chad’s former Prime Minister and opposition leader, Succes Masra, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for hate speech, xenophobia, and inciting a massacre. The court in N’Djamena found him guilty of encouraging inter-communal violence that left 42 people dead, mostly women and children, in Mandakao, southwestern Chad.
Masra was arrested on May 16, two days after the violence, and charged with inciting hatred, revolt, forming and complicity with armed gangs, complicity in murder, arson, and desecration of graves. He stood trial with nearly 70 other men accused of taking part in the killings. The state prosecutor had called for a 25-year sentence, but the court settled on 20 years with a fine of one billion CFA francs ($1.5 million).
Masra is a prominent critic of President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno and comes from the Ngambaye ethnic group, which enjoys wide popularity among the predominantly Christian and animist populations of southern Chad. These groups feel marginalized by the largely Muslim-dominated regime in the capital N’Djamena. Masra served as prime minister from January to May last year after signing a reconciliation deal with Deby. He faced off against Deby in the 2024 presidential elections, winning 18.5% of the vote compared to Deby’s 61.3%, but claimed victory, alleging vote rigging.
Masra’s lawyers argued that no concrete evidence was presented against him during the trial, calling the conviction “a humiliation” and “weaponization of the courts”. Lead defense lawyer Francis Kadjilembaye stated, “He has just been convicted on the basis of an empty dossier, on the basis of assumptions and in the absence of evidence.” Activists with Masra’s Transformers Party gathered to protest the conviction and condemn Deby, appointing former finance minister Bedoumra Kordje as interim party leader.
The May 14 killings are believed to have originated from a dispute between ethnic Fulani nomadic herders and local Ngambaye farmers over land demarcation. According to the International Crisis Group, conflicts between pastoralists and sedentary farmers have caused over 1,000 deaths and 2,000 injuries in Chad between 2021 and 2024.
