The phenomenon of having unelected people at the helm of political affairs is still common in Africa. A case in point is Togo. President Faure Gnassingbe has been in power since the death of his father, Eyadema, in 2005. But now, the young ruler has become the target of a wave of protests since late August calling on him to quit.
President Gnassingbe was last Wednesday urged not to seek re-election in 2020 to guarantee his place in history as the man who ushered in peaceful political change in Togo. But he has been giving deaf ears to such calls.
Three more opposition marches are scheduled to take place next week. Opposition leader, Gilchrist Olympio, has challenged Gnassingbe and his government to accept a return to the 1992 constitution, which sets a 10-year limit for presidents. “Gnassingbe must then accept the principle of not running in the presidential elections of 2020, to leave the field clear for democratic consultation. The chance is being offered him to go down in history by creating the conditions for the peaceful change of power,” he declared.
Mr. Olympio, who announced his retirement from politics this week, also called on the opposition to be united and plot a way forward. The father of the 80-year-old veteran politician, Sylvanus Olympio, was Togo’s first president after independence from French colonial rule in 1960. He was killed in a military coup in 1963, masterminded by Gnassingbe’s father, General Gnassingbe Eyadema.
Gilchrist Olympio opposed General Eyadema for years after he seized power in 1967 but in May 2010, he signed an agreement that brought his UFC party into the government. Now 14 opposition parties have formed a coalition insisting on the re-introduction of a two-term limit for presidents plus a two-round voting system at elections.
At least 16 people have been killed in a series of protests, which have seen thousands of people trooping to the streets across Togo. The opposition has rejected a government proposal for two-term limits because it is not retroactive, which potentially means that President Gnassingbe could run in the 2020 and 2025 elections. Mediators such as Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo and Guinea’s Alpha Conde have been trying to arrange talks between the two sides.
