APA – Ndjamena (Chad) No reason was given for the dismissal of the energy minister.
Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy, Djerassem Le Bemadjiel, was dismissed from Saleh Kebzabo’s government on Thursday, his sacking coming eight days after the resignation of two ministers incriminated in a sex scandal.
This led to a mild government reshuffle on 21 October 2023.
The decree sacking Le Bemadjie, published on the page of the General Secretariat of the Government, gave no details.
However, some observers believe that the inability of the ‘Societe Nationale d’electricite’ (SNE) to regularly supply the city of Ndjamena, the Savannah Energy affair and the freezing of assets are linked to his departure.
Djerassem Le Bemadjiel was Minister of Petroleum under the late President Idriss Deby Itno from 2013 to 2016.
He was the man who negotiated the billion-dollar loan with Glencore that plunged Chad into a financial crisis.
Accused of illicit enrichment, misappropriation of public funds and corruption, he was arrested in September 2020 and provisionally released in February 2021.
He returned to this position in the first transitional government set up following the death of President Deby.
He was then reappointed to the second government currently led by the opposition Saleh Kebzabo.
Under his leadership, the transitional government was engaged in a legal tug-of-war with Savannah Energy, a British firm, over the purchase of Esso Chad’s shares.
This resulted in the nationalisation of Esso’s shares and the creation of the Chad Petroleum Company.
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