Since August 2017, thousands of citizens have been marching on the streets of the Togolese national capital of Lomé to protest against President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé. The citizens of Togo, a West African country, want their president to step down from office and pave the way for a democratic election. Although the president was elected through a national election in 2015, some citizens say the current president rigged the election to continue what they call the “Gnassingbé dynasty.”
According to Amnesty International, about 100,000 people came out on the streets wearing the national colors as well as the colors of the opposition parties and chanting the slogan “Free Togo”. A demonstrator, Luc Koffi told the Agence France Presse “We suffer too much, we can’t even find food. What country are we in? We don’t want Faure anymore, he must go.”
Adama Gaye, a political analyst and author, told Al Jazeera news that members of the opposition and many citizens are “fed up with the fact that it’s the same family which has been ruling the country” for five decades. In his view, “Faure Gnassingbe is now facing the battle of his life because the population of Togo is young”, the young people “are determined and they are taking advantage of the technological advances and internet, and also of some progress that has been made in democratization in other parts of the continent.”
The Togo security forces killed 2 protesters and injured 13 in August 2017 when the security forces opened fire to stop the demonstrations. In early September, the government blocked Internet access in Togo to restrict the mobilization of people for the protests.
Political and economic analysts think that Gnassingbe might find himself isolated by other African leaders due to a growing criticism of autocratic rule in West Africa and the fast democratization of the continent.
“The president’s position is very fragile, and we do not think his peers in ECOWAS or his friends in Europe will help him if things get ugly,” Francois Conradie, head of research at NKC African Economics, said in a statement issued on Sunday, 10 September 2017, Flt. Lt. (Rtd.) Jerry John Rawlings, a former president of neighboring Ghana said,“The protesters could have adopted a violent behavior by now yet they have kept it civil all this while and as such the government troops must equally adopt strides to ensure there is no regression into civil explosion.” He also warned against a possible civil war if the government does not use peaceful means to resolve the impasse.
“The description of an imminent civil war by some commentators shows the extent to which the situation has regressed. The recent threats of civil war come as no surprise. However, the intimidating posture of such comments shows clearly how pertinent the need is to prevent an escalation beyond this point. Civil war can never bring any gains to the people or government,” Rawlings said.
Faure Gnassingbé is the son of the former president of Togo, Gnassingbé Eyadema who ruled the former French colony for 38 years. Following his father’s death in 2005, the military immediately installed Gnassingbé against the legislation pertaining to presidential succession.
Pressure from regional bodies such as the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States forced him to resign on February 25. An election was held on April 24, 2005 and Gnassingbé won amidst controversies over the electoral results. Gnassingbé was re-elected in 2010 and won a third term during the April 2015 presidential election, defeating Jean-Pierre Fabre, leader of the opposition.
Togo is a West African country surrounded by Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso. It is situated in a region that Denmark held in the 18th century as a trading post. It became the German protectorate of Togoland in 1884. After the First World War, Togoland was divided between France and Britain. The Trans-Volta Togoland, which was the British protectorate, joined Ghana as its present-day Volta Region when Ghana gained independence from Britain. France administered the territory forming present-day Togo from 1922 to 1960. It became an independent republic in 1960.
Speaking to The Lode, Tolulope Odebunmi, a third year Nigerian Ph.D. student in the Department of Humanities and president of the African Students’ Organization, said, “I hope the situation in Togo will not develop into the likes of the Arab-spring because that can destabilize the whole West African region. At the moment, I hear some Togolese are already fleeing to Ghana as refugees. Both the government and leaders of the opposition must find a peaceful means to resolving the situation.”
