This is according to a deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Charles Owiredu who says the process has been ongoing for some time now.

“What is happening to Togo is of concern for everyone in Africa especially for us in Ghana, we are neighbours and have families in both countries. If anything should happen there, the effect will be seen here.  At the top level, there are discussions to normalize the situation in that country.”

Togo has been in the news in the last few weeks following series of protests from anti-Gnassingbe supporters.

The protestors want amongst other things a return to constitutional term limits for the Presidency and also an end of the Gnassingbé dynasty.

Some of the protests have resulted in serious clashes leaving some protestors injured.

But the deputy foreign affairs minister said the government will not immediately make public its specific actions in helping to resolve the situation but talks were on-going at all levels to ensure that peace is restored to Togo.

Faure Gnassingbe has been President of Togo for 12 years.

Prior to his election as president, he was appointed by his father, President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, as Minister of Equipment, Mines, Posts, and Telecommunications, serving from 2003 to 2005.

Following Eyadéma’s death in 2005, Gnassingbé was installed as President with support from the army. Doubts regarding the constitutional legitimacy of the succession led to heavy regional pressure being placed on Gnassingbé, and he subsequently resigned on 25 February.

He then won a controversial presidential election on 24 April 2005, and was sworn in as President. Gnassingbé was re-elected for a second term in 2010.

In the April 2015 presidential election, Gnassingbé won a third term, defeating his main challenger, Jean-Pierre Fabre, by a margin of about 59% to 35%, according to official results.

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By: Zoe Abu Baidoo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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So far two protesters have been reported killed and 13 others wounded after the security forces opened fire to break up demonstrations against the ruling Gnassingbe family dynasty.

The demonstrators are demanding the country’s return to its 1992 Constitution which allowed multi-party democracy with a limited Presidential term of office; as many of them sang and chanted “50 years is too long”.

They also accuse the President of superintending over corruption in the country.

President Faure Gnassingbe has been in power since 2005 when his father, Eyadema Gnassingbe, died. His father had ruled the country for 38 years.

But the demonstrators say they are demanding “good elections with real results”, according to Civil Society member and Coordinator of the National Platform for Social Universities, Prof. David Dosseh.

Though the demonstrations were started by the main opposition PNP, CAP 2015, a coalition of five smaller opposition parties, and another coalition of six other smaller opposition parties, have both expressed support for the demonstrations.

“The military is said to have been deployed with many checkpoints erected following this support in fears that the demonstration may escalate in the coming hours”, Prof Dosseh said.

President Faure Gnassingbe is however yet to speak on the demonstrations and the killings.

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By: Sixtus Dong Ullo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Togo: Security forces clamp down on anti-Gnassingbe protestors appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

President Faure Gnassingbe has been in power in the West African country since the death in 2005 of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who had been at the helm for 38 years.

Wearing the red colors of the opposition PNP party, chanting and singing “50 years is too long!”, thousands of demonstrators in the capital Lome called for the reinstatement of the constitution limiting terms that Eyadema introduced in response to protests in 1992.

Security forces fired tear gas to disperse them.

But in a parallel protest in Sokode, 210 miles (338 km) north of the capital, clashes erupted and Togolese forces used live bullets.

The security ministry said that apart from the casualties among protesters 12 gendarmes had also been wounded.

“We do not understand our little Togo,” said demonstrator Ali Boukari. “The father Eyadema was in power for 38 years, his son will soon have done 15 years. All we are demanding is a term limit and they shoot (tear gas) at us.”

The 1992 constitution brought in notional multi-party democracy after decades of dictatorship, and limited presidential terms to two, but ten years later lawmakers amended it to enable Eyadema to run for another term – a common pattern in Africa.

Then, when he died, the military effectively tore up the constitution by installing his son as interim president, instead of the head of the national assembly, as was legally required.

The protests that followed Faure Gnassingbe’s first election victory in 2005 triggered a violent security crackdown in which around 500 people were killed.

“We are protesting against the arbitrary nature of governance and denial of freedom to assemble,” PNP leader Tikpi Atchadam said.

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Source: Reuters

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