Chad: Minister refuses to swear an oath on the Bible

Rosine Amane Djibergui, Minister of Civil Aviation, Transport and National Meteorology refused to swear an oath swearing on the Bible as recommended by the provisions of the new constitution of the Fourth Republic.

The minister wanted to make an undertaking before the nation and not before God.

[bs-quote quote=”It can be said that the minister has been sanctioned for her religious beliefs and this is a dangerous precedent for our country. This poses a problem on the separation of the church and the state
” style=”default” align=”left” author_name=”Evariste Ngarlem Toldé” author_job=”Political scientist”][/bs-quote]

The president of the Supreme Court immediately replaced her by a senior army officer, General Mahamat Tahir Rozi, who was immediately sworn in.

The researcher and political scientist Evariste Ngarlem Toldé believes that the sanction imposed on the minister Amane Rosine Djibergui compromises the secularism of the Chadian state.

Rosine Amane Djibergui was minister several times before becoming an active member of the presidium of the national forum held on March 19 to 27, which resulted in the establishment of the fourth republic wanted by President of Chad.

The constitution requires members of the government to take an oath before the president on the Quran in the name of Allah for Muslims and on the Bible in the name of God for Christians.

Shortly before, during the same ceremony, the minister of communication and government spokeswoman Madeleine Alingué had refused to “swear” in the name of God but “promise” in the name of God, swearing is a blasphemy for Christians.

She had been temporarily suspended, but the president of the Supreme Court reversed his decision to suspend her a few minutes later.