African leaders have paid tribute to deceased Chadian president Idriss Deby who was announced dead on Tuesday, April 20 after he was reportedly injured in clashes with rebels. President Deby was attacked while visiting troops on the frontline, according to the Chadian military. The tribute was passed on Tuesday evening during the second regional meeting on the political and security situation in the Central African Republic that took place in Luanda. President Kagame also attended the meeting that was hosted by his Angolan counterpart, João Manuel Lourenço. “The Heads of State and Government expressed their deepest regret for the passing away of His Excellency Marechal Idriss Déby Itno, President of the Republic of Chad, and conveyed their condolences to the Government and People of Chad and the mourning family,” reads part of a communique released after the summit. Deby, 68, who came to power in a rebellion in 1990 died a day after he was declared winner of the presidential election held on April 11. “He breathed his last defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield,” a military spokesperson who announced his death on state television said. The Chadian government has already announced that the military council will be led by the late president’s son, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, a 37-year-old four-star general.
