Chad leader tries to step out of his battle-tested father’s shadow

Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno became Chad’s transitional president after his father was killed in a conflict with rebels. Photograph: Israel Matene/Reuters

Last month the Chadian head of state, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, announced the release of his autobiography.

It was French publisher VA Editions’ second launch in recent months of a title by an African leader in the run-up to a presidential election. In December it had published a memoir by Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.