Chad’s Independent Anti-Corruption Authority (AILC) has accused the National State Security Agency (ANSE) of violently disrupting an investigation into the finances of the state-owned Chad Hydrocarbons Company (SHT), raising fresh concerns over the independence of the country’s anti-corruption institutions. The AILC said its investigators had been auditing SHT’s financial management since July, including documents linked to crude-oil sales to commodities giant Glencore. The authority alleges that armed and masked security agents intervened after SHT management began handing auditors documents that had reportedly been withheld.
According to the AILC, investigators were handcuffed, taken to ANSE headquarters and held for several hours. Their phones and computers were allegedly confiscated. The authority also said another group attempted to enter its headquarters and arrest its director. The allegations have not been independently verified, and no detailed response from ANSE was included in the AILC’s account. The dispute comes as Chad seeks to strengthen oversight of public finances and its oil sector. The AILC was created in 2023 to independently prevent and combat corruption and promote good governance. The United Nations has welcomed its creation while also calling for stronger resources, independence and transparency for the institution.
Chad’s oil industry is central to its economy, making oversight of the state-owned SHT particularly sensitive. The International Monetary Fund has previously stressed the importance of auditing government oil revenues and improving transparency in the sector. The AILC said the alleged intervention was a serious challenge to its legal mandate and institutional independence. It has vowed to resume the SHT audit and said it would ask President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno to pursue criminal, administrative and disciplinary action against those responsible. The confrontation could test Chad’s efforts to demonstrate that its anti-corruption institutions can operate independently, particularly in a sector that generates significant state revenue.
