Latest news with #FaureGnassingbe
DW
3 days ago
- Politics
- DW
Is Togo's 'constitutional coup' a blueprint for dictators? – DW – 08/08/2025
Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe has cemented his power by creating a new position. Political observers say Africa's other long-time rulers could replicate the move in a bid to prolong their leadership. In May, President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo stepped down from his post. Since then, Jean-Lucien Savi de Tove has been president. But Gnassingbe has not relinquished power. Instead, he is now president of the Council of Ministers, a new body created following a constitutional amendment. Most of Gnassingbe's previous presidential powers have been transferred to his new position, leaving President de Tove serving as a ceremonial head of state. The opposition and civil rights activists call it a "constitutional coup"—because Gnassingbe's new position is not elected, but appointed by the strongest faction in parliament. Gnassingbe's UNIR party (Union for the Republic) has a comfortable majority there. There are no term limits, and Gnassingbe could rule indefinitely without ever having to stand for direct election again. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "That is really the biggest problem because the recent riot that happened in the country was not just about the arrest of the people, it was simply becausepeople are fed up with this family which is controlling the country for more than 50 years now," Pape Ibrahima Kane, director of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) in Dakar, told DW. He said the Gnassingbe family wields control over all aspects of Togo's governance structures, including the parliament. The Togolese government has disregarded the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, Kane added. The Charter, signed off by the African Union (AU) in 2007, came into effect in 2012. The document says member states should aim, through regular, free and fair elections, to legitimize representative government and democratic transfers of power. However, the charter has so far had no impact on the balance of power in Togo, where the Gnassingbe family has ruled the country for 58 years. Faure Gnassingbe took power in 2005 from his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who had ruled for almost four decades. With his latest move, he has further consolidated power. "This is undoubtedly a terrible development for the Togolese people," Fredson Guilenge of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Johannesburg, told DW. Observers fear Gnassingbe might just be the first African leader to use a constitutional amendment to cement their power without having to answer the electorate. "That fact that it will inspire other leaders to change the constitution in order to maintain themselves in power is a worrying truth," Togolese human rights lawyer Esso-Dong Divin Aymard Kongah said. "This is a worrying trend regarding democracy, human rights, and civic space, because all this is leading to a shrinking civic space where people are having less and less power to influence the way public affairs are being done," he told DW. Gnassingbe's political move is nothing new. Several other African leaders have sought to change the constitution to remain in power. President Faustin-Archange Touadera had the constitution amended so he could run for a third term in the Central African Republic's late 2025 election. In January 2026, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, 80, will seek to be re-elected for the seventh time, after he pushed for the removal of age limits for presidential candidates in 2017. Cameroon's 92-year-old President Paul Biya is aiming for an eighth term, at the end of which he would be 99 years old. President Denis Sassou-Nguesso has ruled the Republic of Congo for 41 years. Ivory Coast heads to the polls in October 2025, where 83-year-old Alassane Ouattara has announced another election bid, after he too sought a constitutional amendment, which began in 2016. The world's longest-serving head of state is Equatorial Guinea's 83-year-old Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Widely regarded by political analysts, international watchdogs, and rights activists as a dictator, Nguema has been in office since 1979. Systemic repression of the opposition in those countries has allowed their leaders to hold on to power. When younger generations demand political change, protests are violently crushed. In Togo, at least seven people were killed when demonstrators demanded the government's resignation over the constitutional amendment and a disputed local election. Human rights organizations have for years accused the Togolese state of repressing freedom of speech and gatherings. Fredson Guilenge warns that events in Togo may have been inspired by the rise of the junta-led governments of the Sahel countries. Between 2020 and 2023, there were six military coups in West Africa. The military rulers of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have chosen to work with Russia over former colonial power France. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video While the junta governments have not ruled out a return to civilian rule and democracy, efforts to establish a transition have not materialized, says Guilenge. For instance, in July, Mali's leader Assimi Goita gave himself a five-year leadership extensionwithout the prospects of an election. Similar moves might be tempting for countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, or Equatorial Guinea, Guilenge told DW. But he says the risk varies across the continent. A further threat to liberal democracy, he adds, is the current global context, which has seen the erosion of democracy and multilateralism. "The world is becoming so divided, which might allow leaders to operate without major pressure when it comes to their undemocratic decisions."
Yahoo
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Video shows protest in Kenya, not a demonstration against Togolese president
Togo has witnessed major anti-government protests that the police have repressed since late June. A video widely shared on social media claims to show a large turnout at one of the demonstrations. However, the claim is false; the video was filmed in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city. The East African country has also recently witnessed large-scale protests, with citizens demanding the resignation of President William Ruto. 'This is Togo right now. Citizens protesting as the Togolese President Faure changes the constitution to make him president for life, where citizens will no longer participate in voting for the president,' reads the caption of a Facebook video shared more than 690 times since it was published on June 28, 2025. The video attached to the post shows a crowd marching on a highway with loud noises in the background and smoke rising from items burning on the road. The video has also appeared elsewhere in posts shared on Instagram and a Facebook account belonging to a media organisation in Nigeria. AFP Fact Check has previously debunked the claim in French. In June, several protests, which were violently repressed by the police, shook the streets of Lome, the Togolese capital, resulting in the deaths of at least seven people (archived here). Citizens protested the arrest of government critics, rising electricity prices and constitutional reform that moved the country to a parliamentary system of government where President Faure Gnassingbe occupies the highest office (archived here). The opposition argues that the reform will allow the president to remain in power indefinitely. Swahili audio Some comments under the post talk about the need for a change in Africa's leadership structure, a sign that people believe the claim. However, others mention that the video was filmed in Kenya, not Togo. An AFP fact-checker based in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, confirmed that some of the words heard in the video were in Swahili, a language spoken in East and Central African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Unlike English and French, Swahili is hardly spoken in West Africa, where Togo is located. For example, the words 'wana retaliate' are heard in the 16th second of the video. 'Wana' in Swahili means 'in the process of'. Further evidence reveals the video does not show demonstrations in Togo. Kenyan protests A reverse image search was conducted on keyframes from the video using Google Lens. Among the search results was a YouTube link to the same footage, which was posted on June 28, 2025, without a caption (archived here). The YouTube video includes a watermark for a TikTok account called '@makofonyo3', where the original video was posted three days earlier (archived here). Again, it contained no details of what the clip depicted. However, a similar video from the same account was also shared on June 25, 2025, showing crowds marching along the four-lane highway, except this time a large road sign is visible, giving an indication of where it was filmed (archived here). Some of the words written on the gantry sign include directions for 'Nairobi', 'Kamiti Road', an urban road in Nairobi, 'Garden City', a shopping centre located along Thika Road, a major highway, also called A2, and 'Mombasa', a coastal city in Kenya. The highway sign was geolocated to Thika Road in Nairobi using Google Earth (archived here). AFP Fact Check matched various landmarks on Thika Road, like buildings and bridges, to both the video in the false posts and imagery from Google Earth. Furthermore, by expanding the view on Google Earth, we established that the video falsely linked to Togo was filmed from alongside the gantry on Thika Road during protests in June 2025 (archived here). Kenyan protests On June 25, protesters took to the streets of Nairobi, Mombasa, and other counties across the country to mark the first anniversary of the deaths of 60 people killed when thousands of youths stormed the parliamentary chamber in 2024, demanding Ruto's resignation. The anniversary marches were violently repressed by the police and rekindled anti-government protests (archived here). Several Kenyan media outlets mentioned Thika Road in their reporting, including Citizen TV Kenya (archived here). The Daily Nation published photos in which the four-lane highway can be seen several times (archived link here). Following the incident, the Kenyan government said it 'thwarted a coup d'etat' and denounced 'terrorism disguised as protest' (archived here). Since then, Ruto has continued to warn those who would 'overthrow' the government. The United Nations and other human rights groups have criticised the violence witnessed during the latest protests (archived here). Ruto, who was elected in 2022 after campaigning on behalf of the poorest, has faced significant opposition to his economic policies since 2024.
AFP
21-07-2025
- Politics
- AFP
Video shows protest in Kenya, not a demonstration against Togolese president
'This is Togo right now. Citizens protesting as the Togolese President Faure changes the constitution to make him president for life, where citizens will no longer participate in voting for the president,' reads the caption of a Facebook video shared more than 690 times since it was published on June 28, 2025. The video attached to the post shows a crowd marching on a highway with loud noises in the background and smoke rising from items burning on the road. Image Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on July 16, 2025 The video has also appeared elsewhere in posts shared on Instagram and a Facebook account belonging to a media organisation in Nigeria. AFP Fact Check has previously debunked the claim in French. In June, several protests, which were violently repressed by the police, shook the streets of Lome, the Togolese capital, resulting in the deaths of at least seven people (archived here). Citizens protested the arrest of government critics, rising electricity prices and constitutional reform that moved the country to a parliamentary system of government where President Faure Gnassingbe occupies the highest office (archived here). The opposition argues that the reform will allow the president to remain in power indefinitely. Swahili audio Some comments under the post talk about the need for a change in Africa's leadership structure, a sign that people believe the claim. However, others mention that the video was filmed in Kenya, not Togo. An AFP fact-checker based in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, confirmed that some of the words heard in the video were in Swahili, a language spoken in East and Central African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Unlike English and French, Swahili is hardly spoken in West Africa, where Togo is located. For example, the words 'wana retaliate' are heard in the 16th second of the video. 'Wana' in Swahili means 'in the process of'. Further evidence reveals the video does not show demonstrations in Togo. Kenyan protests A reverse image search was conducted on keyframes from the video using Google Lens. Among the search results was a YouTube link to the same footage, which was posted on June 28, 2025, without a caption (archived here). The YouTube video includes a watermark for a TikTok account called '@makofonyo3', where the original video was posted three days earlier (archived here). Again, it contained no details of what the clip depicted. However, a similar video from the same account was also shared on June 25, 2025, showing crowds marching along the four-lane highway, except this time a large road sign is visible, giving an indication of where it was filmed (archived here). Image Screenshot showing the highway sign seen in the video taken on July 17, 2025 Some of the words written on the gantry sign include directions for 'Nairobi', 'Kamiti Road', an urban road in Nairobi, 'Garden City', a shopping centre located along Thika Road, a major highway, also called A2, and 'Mombasa', a coastal city in Kenya. The highway sign was geolocated to Thika Road in Nairobi using Google Earth (archived here). Image Screenshot showing the highway sign seen in the video and satellite imagery on Google Earth, taken on July 17, 2025 AFP Fact Check matched various landmarks on Thika Road, like buildings and bridges, to both the video in the false posts and imagery from Google Earth. Image Screenshots matching features seen in the video (top) to satellite imagery on Google Earth, taken on July 17, 2025 Furthermore, by expanding the view on Google Earth, we established that the video falsely linked to Togo was filmed from alongside the gantry on Thika Road during protests in June 2025 (archived here). Kenyan protests On June 25, protesters took to the streets of Nairobi, Mombasa, and other counties across the country to mark the first anniversary of the deaths of 60 people killed when thousands of youths stormed the parliamentary chamber in 2024, demanding Ruto's resignation. The anniversary marches were violently repressed by the police and rekindled anti-government protests (archived here). Several Kenyan media outlets mentioned Thika Road in their reporting, including Citizen TV Kenya (archived here). The Daily Nation published photos in which the four-lane highway can be seen several times (archived link here). Image Screenshot showing an image of Thika Road published by The Daily Nation in Kenya, taken on July 21, 2025 Following the incident, the Kenyan government said it 'thwarted a coup d'etat' and denounced 'terrorism disguised as protest' (archived here). Since then, Ruto has continued to warn those who would 'overthrow' the government. The United Nations and other human rights groups have criticised the violence witnessed during the latest protests (archived here). Ruto, who was elected in 2022 after campaigning on behalf of the poorest, has faced significant opposition to his economic policies since 2024.
Morocco World
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
Togo Opens Up Municipal Elections Post Protests
Rabat – The West African nation of Togo voted in local and municipal elections, on Thursday. This comes after a series of violent protests over the last month. Polling stations were opened at the nation's police stations on July 17, for the local elections to vote in the countries 117 municipal localities . There was heavy security centered around the nation's capital to try and secure the vote, and make sure that citizens could reach polling stations. Despite this, due to a large boycott of the election by protestors and the opposition, Togo's capital was largely deserted by citizens, and many have commented on the historically low voter turnout . 'People are afraid of being attacked by protestors for legitimizing these elections or afraid of being dispersed by security forces, they feel it is pointless to vote because the results are always the same and pre-determined,' a member of the human rights organization within the country stated. However, due to the heavy police presence and atmosphere of fear that has swept the country, electoral observers commented on the peaceful nature of the vote. This marks the first vote that has taken place since Faure Gnassingbe reformed the constitution and allowed himself to take power for life. Gnassingbe has been in charge of Togo serving as the country's dynastic strongman since his father's death in 2005. He was elected earlier this year as the president of the council of ministers, a new position that effectively has no term limits. Social media influencers and civil society groups have labelled the new policies by the Gnassingbe government as authoritarian and a constitutional coup d'etat. This contributed to large-scale protests which have taken place throughout June, leading to violent clashes with the police. The protesters, part of the M66 movement, have been calling for the removal of the president and mobilized against authoritarianism in the country. The police have responded by arresting, beating and even killing protestors. Around seven individuals have also been abducted and extrajudicially killed and dumped in rivers around the capital. The government claims that they drowned. These elections signify a dark moment for democracy in Togo, as the government takes more control over the nation's institutions. Tags: authoritarianismFaure Gnassingbetogo electionstogo protests
Al Jazeera
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Low turnout in Togo municipal polls after deadly protests
Togo has voted in municipal elections amid reports of voter apathy, after the country was rocked by deadly protests last month. Polling stations in Togo's capital Lome were largely deserted on Thursday. The low turnout came after June's protests against constitutional reforms that could keep leader Faure Gnassingbe in power indefinitely. Rights groups blamed the police for the deaths of seven marchers in the protests, whose bodies had been fished out from the capital's rivers by activists. 'People are … afraid of being attacked by protesters for legitimising these elections, or afraid of being dispersed by security forces,' Edem Adjaklo, a voter in the Gakli neighbourhood, told The Associated Press news agency. 'They feel it's pointless to vote because the results are always the same – predetermined.' The sense of unease in Lome was reportedly heightened by a heavy police and military presence at major intersections. Despite a call for demonstrations against Gnassingbe, the streets of the seaside capital were quiet on Thursday. Gnassingbe has ruled the country since 2005, after the death of his father and predecessor as president, Gnassingbe Eyadema. The constitutional reforms, approved by a parliament dominated by Gnassingbe's Union pour le Republic (UNIR) party, swapped the presidential system in the country for a parliamentary one. Under the reforms, Gnassingbe was sworn in two months ago as president of the Council of Ministers – effectively as prime minister – a role with no official term limits, which would allow him to be re-elected indefinitely. Critics called it a 'constitutional coup'. Diaspora-based social media influencers and civil society groups had called for a boycott of the elections, the first national vote organised since the constitutional reform. This year's bout of protests was triggered after popular rapper and TikToker Tchala Essowe Narcisse, popularly known as Aamron, was arrested for publishing a video where he called for protests to mark the president's June 6 birthday. Anger had also been simmering over the state of the economy, widespread unemployment and the repression of government critics. Public demonstrations have been banned in the country since protests between 2017 and 2018, which saw thousands of protesters taking to the streets in demonstrations tagged 'Faure Must Go' and 'Togo stands up'. Although officially a democracy, Togo operates in practice as a militarised state, with the army heavily involved in politics.
