Togo’s President fails to elect new ministers
Faure Gnassingbé has been president of Togo for 3 months but has failed to name any new ministers, reports AfricaNews on the 26th of August.
Faure Gnassingbé, whose new term as president started in May following a major constitutional shift where Gnassingbé scrapped presidential elections and shifted the country to a parliamentary system. Gnassingbé also made himself president of the council of ministers – a role he himself created.
The opposition called the constitutional reforms a power grab designed to ensure Gnassingbé remains in office indefinitely. Opponents to the constitutional overhaul describe Gnassingbé as performing a “institutional coup d’état.”
Supporters of Gnassingbé defend his changes to the constitution – the outgoing Labor minister Gilbert Bawara has said the situation is not extraordinary and has cited Belgium, which once had a caretaker government for over a year.
The outgoing government continues to manage the affairs of the country, whilst pressure has mounted on Gnassingbé to appoint new ministers to the council.
Previously, Gnassingbé had served as Togo’s president for 20 years following his father, who passed away in 2005. His father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, served as the country’s president for nearly four decades.
The constitutional shift has proved to be controversial within Togo. Elections in June and July were marked by violent anti-government protests, despite the country’s ban on protests in 2022.
At a protest in the Nation’s capital, Lomé, 80 protestors were arrested.
Footage of the protests showed an illegal use of force by Togolese authorities who were seen beating protestors with batons and firing tear gas within residential areas.
The government responded to the protests by restricting social media and internet access across Togo.
It was the aim of protestors to push for Gnassingbé to step down from the role he gave himself and release others who were arrested for protesting – demands that have been ignored.
As Gnassingbé fails to appoint new governmental ministers, Togolese citizens continue to be left in the dark about their Nation’s future.
AfricaNews, Maghrebi.org
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