Latest update: 03/03/2010 

- Togo


Togo's fight for change

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March 4: Togo heads to the polls to elect a new President. Incumbent Faure Gnassingbé is seeking another term, after the army installed him as leader in 2005 following the death of his father. He held onto power during elections held a few weeks later, but these were contested by the opposition as being fraudulent and hundreds of people died in post election violence. Authorities now believe radical groups are preparing an uprising in case the vote doesn't turn out the way they want it to.

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By Emmanuelle SODJI / Patrick LOVETT
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Concession Doesn't Necessarily Equal Repression

by Anonyme - 11/03/2010 - 21:33

In the hotly contested U.S. election of 2000, tempers flared, the process looked to be in danger of spinning out of control when the US Supreme court split the decision on what appeared to be party lines. Al Gore conceded and the stability of the state and the ability to govern a civil outweighed his quest for power. What then is different about these opposition forces in Togo? Does their quest for power come from a valid, urgent need to abandon civility in favor of governance? No one likes a dictator or his son, but what follows when the rule of law is traded for an expedient political power grab? It's likely to be more of the same political unrest for years to come. I am curious to learn more of the underpinning forces that caused the situation in Togo to develop to where it is now.

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