In Chad, voters went to the polls Monday in the Sahel region’s first election since a wave of coups in recent years. Chad’s current leader, President Mahamat Idriss Déby, is largely expected to win. He took power after his long-ruling father, Idriss Déby, was killed on the battlefield in 2021. Ten candidates were disqualified from the election, leading to a call to boycott the polls. Critics and opposition politicians have blasted the “dynastic dictatorship.” Voters say they want a leader who can improve the dire economic situation in Chad and guarantee peace.

Gali Doubaye: “We need peace. We’ve suffered enough in this country. We want a change. We really want a change, someone who can lead the country, who won’t have the conscience to ignore the suffering of Chadian youth. Chadian youth are suffering. Our parents send us to school, and we come back to fight in the neighborhoods. We’re fed up. There has to be a change.”

Chad is also home to over 1 million refugees, many of them from neighboring Sudan. The election results will take several weeks to be announced.