Civil societies, Togo president on war path over new constitution eliminating elections

The report revealed that there was a crackdown on civic and media freedoms ahead of the vote, as the government banned protests against the proposed new constitution and arrested opposition figures.

READ ALSO:

• Rivers crisis festers as new factional Speaker emerges
• Cybersecurity levy suspension tears lawmakers apart, speaker overrules
• EFCC to arraign Sirika, daughter over fresh N2.7 billion contract scam

Also, the electoral commission banned the Catholic Church from deploying election observers.

In mid-April, a French journalist who arrived to cover the elections was arrested, assaulted and expelled. Togo’s media regulator later suspended the accreditation process for foreign journalists.

Provisional results showed the ruling Union for the Republic (UNIR) party won 108 out of 113 seats in parliament, and 137 out of 179 positions in the senate.

The new constitution also increases presidential terms from five to six years and introduces a single-term limit.

However, the almost 20 years that Gnassingbe has already served in office would not count toward that tally.

Togo has been ruled by the same family for 57 years, initially by Eyadema Gnassingbe and then by his son, Faure Gnassingbe, who took office after elections that the opposition described as a “sham.”

The political opposition, religious leaders and civil society say the proposed new constitution makes it likely that Gnassingbe will stay on when his mandate expires in 2025.

They also fear that the creation of a figure similar to a prime minister, to be selected from the ruling party, could become another avenue for Gnassingbe to extend his grip on power even beyond that new term.

Civil societies, Togo president on war path over new constitution eliminating elections