The arrest of former prime minister Succès Masra in Chad on Friday 16 May 2025 is causing a stir on the political scene. The leader of the opposition party Les Transformateurs was arrested by security forces at his home in N’Djamena and taken to an unknown destination. While the public prosecutor has cited the execution of a warrant, the precise reasons for his arrest remain unclear. The arrest comes at a tense time, two weeks after the opposition politician’s virulent criticism of President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno. Find out more in this report.
The political climate in the Republic of Chad became tense on Friday 16 May 2025 with the arrest of former Prime Minister Succès Masra. The president of the opposition party « Les Transformateurs » was arrested at dawn at his home in the Gassi district, in the 7th arrondissement of N’Djamena, by armed men in military uniform. According to those close to him, he was taken to an unknown destination. No explanation was given to his colleagues who were present at the scene.
« Succès should expect, knowing this regime, I believe that before he was Prime Minister, he had already said, a dynasty, you don’t spare it, you fight it. So now is it fair to say that Succès should take responsibility for his association with this regime, which he is so keen to join? He has to take responsibility, but this way of being questioned is an attack on his physical integrity and his rights. I think we could have done things differently.”
SADIO MOREL KANTÉ, Political analyst – DR Congo
A few hours after the arrest of Succès Masra, the public prosecutor confirmed that proceedings had been opened against him. An arrest warrant had apparently been issued and executed by the judicial police. However, neither the charges nor the place of detention were specified. In the ranks of the Transformers, this arrest raised many questions. On 29 April 2025, Succès Masra had publicly criticised President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, accusing him of no longer respecting the spirit of the Kinshasa agreement that was supposed to provide a framework for the transition.
« But above all to the person most responsible among them, in this case President Mahamat himself, to solemnly ask him to change course, because if this does not happen, the change that everyone agrees on and that Chadians have chosen will not happen. So my message to the Marshal President is to invite him somewhere to change from a legal President of the Republic to a legitimate President of the Chadian people.”
SUCCÈS MASRA, Political opponent – Chad
A former exile who returned to the country in 2024 to briefly serve as Prime Minister, Succès Masra had since made a name for himself by taking positions that oscillated between collaboration with and denunciation of the ruling power. According to Public Prosecutor Oumar Mahamat Kedelaye, Succès Masra was arrested for ‘serious acts constituting incitement to hatred, revolt, armed gangs, complicity in murder, arson and desecration of graves’ following the Mandakaou massacres in Western Logone. According to observers, this arrest risks rekindling tensions and further weakening the political transition process in Chad.
