Ngarlejy Yorongar
Encyclopedia
Ngarlejy Koji Yorongar le Moinban is a Chad
ian politician. He is the Executive Federal Coordinator of the Federation, Action for the Republic (in French
: Fédération, action pour la république or FAR), a radical opposition party, as well as a Deputy in the National Assembly of Chad
and President of the Federation Parliamentary Group.
, sub-prefect of Mbaïnarmar, first adjutant to the prefect
and then prefect of Guéra
. At this point Yorongar passed to working out of Chad, first as consultant in Paris
to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OCDE), then as director of the African Bureau of Educational Sciences (BASE) at Kisangani
(Zaire), lastly as director of the Institut International des Assurances (IIA) at Yaoundé
(Cameroon
).http://www.yorongar.com/article.php3?id_article=8
and received 2.08% of the popular vote (tenth place) in the first round. On July 3, 1996, he was arrested without a warrant, allegedly beaten, and held without charge for longer than legally permitted. Eventually, he was charged with illegally campaigning for Wadel Abdelkader Kamougué
, one of the candidates in the second round of the presidential election, and engaging in arms trafficking with rebels. These charges were subsequently dismissed, and he was released.
Yorongar was elected to the National Assembly
as a FAR candidate in the first round of the 1997 parliamentary election
. He was the only FAR candidate to obtain a seat in the election.
In an interview in July 1997, he accused Kamougué, who was by this time the President of the National Assembly, of taking a bribe of 15 million French franc
s from Elf
, a partner in the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project
. In the previous month, he accused President
Idriss Déby
of nepotism in the management of the oil industry. Kamougué charged Yorongar with defamation in August, and on May 26, 1998 he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity
. He was arrested on June 3. On July 20, after a trial judged unfair by Amnesty International
, he was found guilty of defamation and sentenced to three years imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 CFA franc
s. He was released after eight months of detention on February 5, 1999.
On March 22, 2001 Yorongar, on behalf of 120 Chadians, submitted to the World Bank Inspection Panel a request for inspection of the pipeline project, claiming that people living in the Project area and their environment had or were likely to suffer harm as a result of failures and omissions in the design, appraisal, and supervision by the International Development Association
of the Project. Also, the request claimed that proper consultation with and disclosure of information to the local communities was not taking place.
In the presidential election of 2001
, in which incumbent Idriss Déby obtained a second mandate, Yorongar came second with 396,864 votes (16.35%). Yorongar and the other opposition candidates hotly contested the fairness of the election; the answer of the government was to arrest them twice, first briefly on May 28 and then on May 30, when they were freed after the intervention of the World Bank
's President James Wolfensohn
. Yorongar was apparently tortured while in detention, enduring beatings with iron bars on his back. This was confirmed by the Chadian physicians who first treated him after his release.
The following year Yorongar's party participated in the 2002 parliamentary election
. The FAR obtained 10 seats, and Yorongar was re-elected to the National Assembly as a FAR candidate from Bebedjia
constituency in Logone Oriental Department
. Yorongar is currently the President of the Federation Parliamentary Group.
Two years later, in 2004, the Chadian state was shaken by a serious crisis caused by the determination of the President to obtain a third mandate through a reform of the Constitution
. When the following year a constitutional referendum
to sanction the National Assembly's vote was looming, Yorongar first attempted to have the amendments proclaimed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
; when this failed, he refused to boycott the referendum, unlike the other main opposition parties, and he instead campaigned for a "no" vote. The referendum nevertheless passed according to official results. Yorongar boycotted the May 2006 presidential election
, along with most of the opposition, considering it a masquerade intended only to legitimize Dèby's continued rule.
The FAR was the only major opposition party to not sign an agreement on August 13, 2007 that provided for improved electoral organization ahead of the next parliamentary election
, now planned for 2009. Yorongar criticized the agreement as inadequate and said that signing it would be a "waste of time". He said that there should instead be a dialogue involving the entire political scene, including rebels, the exiled opposition, and civil society, and that a credible election could not be conducted while a rebellion was taking place in part of the country. Yorongar was also critical of the fact that the independent electoral commission would be subject to the decisions of the Constitutional Council
, which he alleged is controlled by Déby, and of the management of the electoral census by the government instead of the electoral commission.
in N'Djamena
, soldiers reportedly surrounded Yorongar's house and arrested him on February 3, 2008. On February 9, Yorongar's son Roukoulmian Yorongar said that he was afraid for father's life, recalling the effects of his 2001 torture and saying that his father was already in poor health. Roukoulmian said that his father could not have been working with the rebels, because he had supported inclusive dialogue rather than violence as a means of achieving change. The government claimed on February 22 that Yorongar had resurfaced in the Moursal district of N'Djamena, but this was disputed, with Yorongar's son and an opposition lawyer saying that no one in the district reported seeing Yorongar. The lawyer, Mahamat Hassan Abacar, said that the government was only trying to give assurances to the French in hopes that French President Nicolas Sarkozy
would visit Chad.
On March 1, 2008, Afrique Education magazine published an interview with Yorongar, which it said he had given by telephone from neighboring Cameroon
. In this interview, Yorongar described being arrested (and simultaneously beaten) by soldiers on February 3, and he said that he was subsequently held in a secret prison, along with two other arrested opposition leaders, Lol Mahamat Choua and Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh
. He was held in a small cell and his legs were chained together, until on February 21 he was taken to a cemetery and forced to lie down between two graves. His blindfold and chain were then removed; his captors fired two shots near him and drove away. Yorongar said that he then fled across the border to Cameroon. In the interview, he insisted that he had no links with the rebels. He was flown from Maroua
in northern Cameroon to Yaoundé on March 2, and on March 6 he arrived in Paris. He said that he was in very bad condition as a result of his treatment in captivity and was worried that he might have been poisoned; he also said that he believed Saleh was probably dead. The French government offered to grant Yorongar political asylum, although Yorongar said that he did not want to request it at that time.
In an interview on March 7, 2008, Yorongar urged the French to pressure the Chadian government to allow the return of all exiled opponents of Déby and hold a national dialogue that would include the rebels. He said that Déby was trying to eliminate the opposition because, in Yorongar's view, he could not win a transparent election. Yorongar also said that he had a visa for three months and that he intended to remain in France during that time.
Yorongar returned to Chad from France on December 8, 2008.
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
ian politician. He is the Executive Federal Coordinator of the Federation, Action for the Republic (in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Fédération, action pour la république or FAR), a radical opposition party, as well as a Deputy in the National Assembly of Chad
National Assembly of Chad
The National Assembly is the parliament of Chad. It has 155 members, elected for a four year term in 25 single-member constituencies and 34 multi-member constituencies.-See also:*List of Presidents of the National Assembly of Chad...
and President of the Federation Parliamentary Group.
Early career
Before entering politics, Yorongar worked in the Chadian civil service. His first employment was in N'Djamena at the Ministry of Finance; thence he became in succession adjutant to the sub-prefect of MoundouMoundou
Moundou is the second largest city in Chad, and is the capital of the region of Logone Occidental.The city lies on the Logone River some 475 kilometres south of the capital N'Djamena. It is the main city of the Ngambai people...
, sub-prefect of Mbaïnarmar, first adjutant to the prefect
Prefect
Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
and then prefect of Guéra
Guéra Prefecture
This article refers to one of the former prefectures of Chad. From 2002 the country was divided into 18 regions.Guéra was one of the 14 prefectures of Chad. Its capital was Mongo...
. At this point Yorongar passed to working out of Chad, first as consultant in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organisation of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade...
(OCDE), then as director of the African Bureau of Educational Sciences (BASE) at Kisangani
Kisangani
Kisangani is the capital of Orientale Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the 3rd largest urbanized city in the country and the largest of the cities that lie in the tropical woodlands of the Congo....
(Zaire), lastly as director of the Institut International des Assurances (IIA) at Yaoundé
Yaoundé
-Transportation:Yaoundé Nsimalen International Airport is a major civilian hub, while nearby Yaoundé Airport is used by the military. Railway lines run west to the port city of Douala and north to N'Gaoundéré. Many bus companies operate from the city; particularly in the Nsam and Mvan neighborhoods...
(Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
).http://www.yorongar.com/article.php3?id_article=8
Political career
The first of his many politically motivated arrests was in March 1994, when he was detained for five days. Yorongar ran in the June 1996 presidential electionChadian presidential election, 1996
Presidential election were held in Chad on 2 June 1996, with a second round on 3 July. This was the first multiparty presidential election in the history of Chad since its independence. It occurred at the end of a long transitional process and was repeatedly delayed...
and received 2.08% of the popular vote (tenth place) in the first round. On July 3, 1996, he was arrested without a warrant, allegedly beaten, and held without charge for longer than legally permitted. Eventually, he was charged with illegally campaigning for Wadel Abdelkader Kamougué
Wadel Abdelkader Kamougué
Wadel Abdelkader Kamougué was a Chadian politician and former army officer. Kamougué was a leading figure in the 1975 coup d'état and since then he has held several positions in the Chadian government and legislature. He was Vice-President from 1979 to 1982 and was President of the National...
, one of the candidates in the second round of the presidential election, and engaging in arms trafficking with rebels. These charges were subsequently dismissed, and he was released.
Yorongar was elected to the National Assembly
National Assembly of Chad
The National Assembly is the parliament of Chad. It has 155 members, elected for a four year term in 25 single-member constituencies and 34 multi-member constituencies.-See also:*List of Presidents of the National Assembly of Chad...
as a FAR candidate in the first round of the 1997 parliamentary election
Chadian parliamentary election, 1997
Parliamentary elections were held in Chad in 1997, the first multi-party election since independence in 1960. The voting system was similar to that of France, using runoff voting, with two separate rounds of voting, the first on 5 January and the second on 23 February in those constituencies where...
. He was the only FAR candidate to obtain a seat in the election.
In an interview in July 1997, he accused Kamougué, who was by this time the President of the National Assembly, of taking a bribe of 15 million French franc
French franc
The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
s from Elf
Elf Aquitaine
Elf Aquitaine was a French oil company which merged with TotalFina to form TotalFinaElf. The new company changed its name to Total in 2003...
, a partner in the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project
Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project
The Chad–Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project is a controversial project to develop the production capacity of oilfields near Doba in southern Chad, and to create a 1,070 km pipeline to transport the oil to facilities on the coast of Cameroon. The project was launched on...
. In the previous month, he accused President
Heads of state of Chad
-List of Heads of State of Chad:-Affiliations:-External links:**...
Idriss Déby
Idriss Déby
General Idriss Déby Itno is the President of Chad and the head of the Patriotic Salvation Movement. Déby is of the Bidyat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. He added "Itno" to his surname in January 2006.-Rise to power:...
of nepotism in the management of the oil industry. Kamougué charged Yorongar with defamation in August, and on May 26, 1998 he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity
Parliamentary immunity
Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which members of the parliament or legislature are granted partial immunity from prosecution. Before prosecuting, it is necessary that the immunity be removed, usually by a superior court of justice or by the parliament itself...
. He was arrested on June 3. On July 20, after a trial judged unfair by Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, he was found guilty of defamation and sentenced to three years imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 CFA franc
CFA franc
The CFA franc is the name of two currencies used in Africa which are guaranteed by the French treasury. The two CFA franc currencies are the West African CFA franc and the Central African CFA franc...
s. He was released after eight months of detention on February 5, 1999.
On March 22, 2001 Yorongar, on behalf of 120 Chadians, submitted to the World Bank Inspection Panel a request for inspection of the pipeline project, claiming that people living in the Project area and their environment had or were likely to suffer harm as a result of failures and omissions in the design, appraisal, and supervision by the International Development Association
International Development Association
The International Development Association , is the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries. It complements the World Bank's other lending arm — the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development — which serves middle-income countries with capital investment and...
of the Project. Also, the request claimed that proper consultation with and disclosure of information to the local communities was not taking place.
In the presidential election of 2001
Chadian presidential election, 2001
A presential election was held in Chad on May 20, 2001. President Idriss Déby stood as a candidate for a second term. He obtained the support of a former opponent, Lol Mahamat Choua, leader of the Rally for Democracy and Progress ....
, in which incumbent Idriss Déby obtained a second mandate, Yorongar came second with 396,864 votes (16.35%). Yorongar and the other opposition candidates hotly contested the fairness of the election; the answer of the government was to arrest them twice, first briefly on May 28 and then on May 30, when they were freed after the intervention of the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
's President James Wolfensohn
James Wolfensohn
Sir James David Wolfensohn AO KBE FKC was the ninth president of the World Bank Group.-Early life:James Wolfensohn was born in Sydney, Australia, on 1 December 1933...
. Yorongar was apparently tortured while in detention, enduring beatings with iron bars on his back. This was confirmed by the Chadian physicians who first treated him after his release.
The following year Yorongar's party participated in the 2002 parliamentary election
Chadian parliamentary election, 2002
The Chadian parliamentary election of 2002 was the second multi-party parliamentary election since the independence of Chad, and came after the normal expiry of the mandate of the National Assembly's deputies...
. The FAR obtained 10 seats, and Yorongar was re-elected to the National Assembly as a FAR candidate from Bebedjia
Bébédjia
Bébédjia was a village in Logone Oriental Prefecture in Chad which was obliterated from existence in a May 9, 2007 tornado which killed 14 people and injured over 100.-References:...
constituency in Logone Oriental Department
Logone Oriental
Logone Oriental may refer to:* Logone Oriental Prefecture* Logone Oriental Region...
. Yorongar is currently the President of the Federation Parliamentary Group.
Two years later, in 2004, the Chadian state was shaken by a serious crisis caused by the determination of the President to obtain a third mandate through a reform of the Constitution
Constitution of Chad
The Constitution of the Republic of Chad is the supreme law of Chad. Adopted in 1996, six years after President Idriss Déby rose to power following a successful rebellion against President Hissène Habré, this formal document establishes the framework of the Chadian state and government and...
. When the following year a constitutional referendum
Chadian constitutional referendum, 2005
On 6 June 2005 the Chadian voters were called to pronounce themselves through a referendum on the revision of the Constitution originally approved on 31 March 1996....
to sanction the National Assembly's vote was looming, Yorongar first attempted to have the amendments proclaimed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
; when this failed, he refused to boycott the referendum, unlike the other main opposition parties, and he instead campaigned for a "no" vote. The referendum nevertheless passed according to official results. Yorongar boycotted the May 2006 presidential election
Chadian presidential election, 2006
A presidential election took place in Chad on May 3, 2006. A 2005 constitutional referendum made it possible for President Idriss Déby to run for a third term; having come to power in December 1990, he previously won elections in 1996 and 2001...
, along with most of the opposition, considering it a masquerade intended only to legitimize Dèby's continued rule.
The FAR was the only major opposition party to not sign an agreement on August 13, 2007 that provided for improved electoral organization ahead of the next parliamentary election
Chadian parliamentary election, 2009
A parliamentary election was held in Chad on Sunday, 13 February 2011; it was the first such election since 2002. The administration of President Idriss Déby has been in power since 1990...
, now planned for 2009. Yorongar criticized the agreement as inadequate and said that signing it would be a "waste of time". He said that there should instead be a dialogue involving the entire political scene, including rebels, the exiled opposition, and civil society, and that a credible election could not be conducted while a rebellion was taking place in part of the country. Yorongar was also critical of the fact that the independent electoral commission would be subject to the decisions of the Constitutional Council
Constitutional Council of Chad
The Constitutional Council of Chad judges the constitutionality of legislation and treaties in Chad. It consists of nine judges who are elected to 9-year terms. It is established by Title VII of the Constitution of Chad.-Sources:...
, which he alleged is controlled by Déby, and of the management of the electoral census by the government instead of the electoral commission.
2008 arrest
During a battle between government forces and rebelsBattle of N'Djamena (2008)
The Battle of N'Djamena began on February 2, 2008 when Chadian rebel forces opposed to Chadian President Idriss Déby entered N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, after a three-day advance through the country. The rebels were initially successful, taking a large part of the city and attacking the heavily...
in N'Djamena
N'Djamena
N'Djamena is the capital and largest city of Chad. A port on the Chari River, near the confluence with the Logone River, it directly faces the Cameroonian town of Kousséri, to which the city is connected by a bridge. It is also a special statute region, divided in 10 arrondissements. It is a...
, soldiers reportedly surrounded Yorongar's house and arrested him on February 3, 2008. On February 9, Yorongar's son Roukoulmian Yorongar said that he was afraid for father's life, recalling the effects of his 2001 torture and saying that his father was already in poor health. Roukoulmian said that his father could not have been working with the rebels, because he had supported inclusive dialogue rather than violence as a means of achieving change. The government claimed on February 22 that Yorongar had resurfaced in the Moursal district of N'Djamena, but this was disputed, with Yorongar's son and an opposition lawyer saying that no one in the district reported seeing Yorongar. The lawyer, Mahamat Hassan Abacar, said that the government was only trying to give assurances to the French in hopes that French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
would visit Chad.
On March 1, 2008, Afrique Education magazine published an interview with Yorongar, which it said he had given by telephone from neighboring Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
. In this interview, Yorongar described being arrested (and simultaneously beaten) by soldiers on February 3, and he said that he was subsequently held in a secret prison, along with two other arrested opposition leaders, Lol Mahamat Choua and Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh
Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh
Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh was a Chadian politician and opposition leader who headed the Party for Liberties and Development .-Early life and education:...
. He was held in a small cell and his legs were chained together, until on February 21 he was taken to a cemetery and forced to lie down between two graves. His blindfold and chain were then removed; his captors fired two shots near him and drove away. Yorongar said that he then fled across the border to Cameroon. In the interview, he insisted that he had no links with the rebels. He was flown from Maroua
Maroua
Maroua is the capital of the Far North Region of Cameroon, on the Ferngo and Kaliao Rivers. The city had 201,371 inhabitants at the 2005 Census,and is a centre of cotton industry. The city also has an airport located near the town of Salak, an agricultural school and ethnographic museum. To the...
in northern Cameroon to Yaoundé on March 2, and on March 6 he arrived in Paris. He said that he was in very bad condition as a result of his treatment in captivity and was worried that he might have been poisoned; he also said that he believed Saleh was probably dead. The French government offered to grant Yorongar political asylum, although Yorongar said that he did not want to request it at that time.
In an interview on March 7, 2008, Yorongar urged the French to pressure the Chadian government to allow the return of all exiled opponents of Déby and hold a national dialogue that would include the rebels. He said that Déby was trying to eliminate the opposition because, in Yorongar's view, he could not win a transparent election. Yorongar also said that he had a visa for three months and that he intended to remain in France during that time.
Yorongar returned to Chad from France on December 8, 2008.