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By Djinodji SOLMENGAR Rodrigue

On Monday, June 22, 2026, heavy rain and strong winds hit N’Djamena hard. As a result, conditions quickly turned difficult across the capital.

Inside the Senate building, the national flag started to struggle in the wind. The flagpole swayed as strong gusts pushed through the area.

At that moment, three men stepped in. They rushed over to the flag without hesitation.

Quickly, the men grabbed the tricolor and held it down. They kept it from falling into the mud. Meanwhile, rain kept pouring heavily over them.

A bystander captured the scene on video. In the footage, the men can be seen completely soaked but still holding firm.

For nearly twenty minutes, they stood their ground. Still, they did not let go of the flag.

Soon after, the video started to spread online. It quickly went viral across social media platforms. As a result, many people reacted with admiration and pride.

Later on, President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno reacted on Facebook. He praised the men for their action.

‘Our flag is not a simple piece of cloth. It is the heart of our common history, our pride and our unity. By protecting it, these citizens reminded us that safeguarding our symbols means preserving what brings us together,’ the President wrote.

Eventually, the Senate identified the three men. They turned out to be a parliamentary assistant, a security officer, and a cleaning agent.

Djinodji Solmengar

Djinodji Solmengar Rodrigue is a journalist with MRTV English, Chad’s first English-language media outlet, where he led English-language news coverage at its launch. Based in N’Djamena, his reporting explores political, economic, and social developments, with particular attention to everyday realities, informal sectors, and cultural life. His work also extends to football and broader societal issues, approached through field reporting and in-depth storytelling. Beyond reporting, Djinodji regularly conducts interviews focused on education, including the teaching of English in Chad, as well as conversations (with AFROTRONIX, to name a few) on culture and music. He is also active as an English–French interpreter, working alongside international media professionals. In this capacity, he recently supported and interpreted for a delegation of foreign journalists, including BBC representatives, during the PND Chad Connexion 2030 mission. Alongside his professional practice, Djinodji is pursuing a PhD, with research centered on the presence of China and Russia in Africa as portrayed in selected Commonwealth online media. His academic interests lie at the intersection of media, geopolitics, and discourse analysis. Earlier in his career, he taught English and authored a Master’s thesis examining the contextualization of English language teaching in Chad, reflecting a sustained engagement with educational challenges and policy.