Togo vote could see Gnassingbes extend decades-long rule

February 22, 2020

LOME, Togo (AP) — The West African nation of Togo is voting Saturday in a presidential election that is likely to see the incumbent re-elected for a fourth term despite years of calls by the opposition for new leadership.

President Faure Gnassingbe’s family has been in power for more than five decades, and his ruling party says a win is all but certain. “Given the level of mobilization, we are convinced and certain that this enthusiasm will also be reflected in the polls,” said Gilbert Bawara, spokesman for the ruling party.

But months of anti-government protests in 2017, with about 20 people killed, were a sign of impatience with the family's hold on power. Togo's government this week expelled a key U.S.-based election observer group, weakening efforts to monitor for any irregularities. The United States has criticized the expulsion.

“We are deeply troubled by the Togolese government’s actions to restrict non-partisan election monitoring,” said the president of the National Democratic Institute, Derek Mitchell. “Despite the government’s actions, we remain steadfast in our commitment to support the Togolese people’s desire for democracy, and ability to monitor their elections in accordance with internationally recognized principles of transparency.”

Tchambakou Ayassor, president of Togo's electoral commission, countered in remarks to journalists on Friday: “We had to withdraw the accreditation of one organization. And we clearly indicated in a statement to this organization that there were reasons to believe this organization was preparing to disrupt the electoral process.”

In addition, the electronic vote-counting system will not be used because “while deploying these devices it came to our attention that there was a heightened risk of the systems being hacked, which we suspect had the aim of manipulating the results,” Ayassor said.

In power since 2005 following the death of his father, Eyadema, who seized power in 1967, Gnassingbe now has the right to remain in office if elected until 2030. In May he enacted a law limiting presidents to two five-year terms, but because it is not retroactive, his previous three terms are not counted.

Gnassingbe has called on voters to renew confidence in him to guarantee peace and security in Togo amid a growing extremism threat in the West African region. He also promised to improve the health, education and agricultural sectors.

He faces off against six other candidates including Jean-Pierre Fabre, 67, with the National Alliance for Change, who came in second in elections in 2010 and 2015. Fabre contested Gnassingbe's 2015 win with about 56% of the votes.

"I had the victory stolen from me the previous times. It will not happen again,” Fabre said while campaigning. “Go out massively on Feb. 22 to sanction this regime and choose those who are really capable of managing the country.”

Opposition groups have chosen not to support a single candidate in hopes that voting in the nation of nearly 8 million people goes to a second round. But some observers worry that Saturday's vote won’t be transparent and fair.

“Let's be realistic! None of the candidates can win this presidential election in the first round if the election is truly transparent. But it is up to opponents to work to minimize fraud, "said Spero Mahoule, a member of the Collective of Associations Against Impunity in Togo.

Worries are high as well that internet service could be cut. More than 3.6 million people are registered to vote in what many hope will be a calm election. The vote is being held against the backdrop of rising prices for basic necessities, weak health systems and an education sector in which teachers continually threaten strikes. Unemployment among young people is increasing.

Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal, and Lekan Oyekanmi in Lome contributed.

Togo counts votes as president seeks third term

April 26, 2015

LOME, Togo (AP) — Togo's election officials added up results Sunday after voting in the presidential election that appeared to have a low turnout.

President Faure Gnassingbe is seeking a third term against four opposition challengers. Gnassingbe has been in power since 2005 when he succeeded his father, who died after 38 years in office. The family has ruled this West African nation for nearly 50 years.

Some 3.5 million people were registered to vote on Saturday, though the turnout was light in Lome, the capital. Counting at polling stations began after polls closed Saturday at 4 p.m. In Lome, opposition supporters gathered outside several stations, eager to observe the process and ensure no rigging took place.

Several supporters recalled Gnassingbe's first election in 2005, which was marred by serious allegations of fraud. At some polling stations that year, soldiers burst in and made off with ballot boxes.

"We came to follow the counting to expose those thieves that cheat us at every election," said 42-year-old Elise Awoussi. "This year, we'll ensure they'll have a hard time doing that." The leading opposition candidate also said he would be watching the process closely.

"We're keeping a cool head as we await the results, and then we'll see. I ask everyone to stay calm," Jean-Pierre Fabre said. "If the ruling party wants to try a coup, it won't work." The electoral commission officially has six days to announce the results although preliminary results are expected later Sunday.

Togo's opposition, ruling party claim election win

Sat Mar 6, 2010

The main opposition candidate and the ruling-party in Togo have both claimed victory in the presidential election as vote counting continues in the West African nation.

Government spokesman Pascal Bodjona on Friday declared a resounding victory for the ruling Rally for the Togolese People Party and President Faure Gnassingbe, who is running for a second term in office.

A statement by the ruling party also called on opposition leaders to reunite so as to preserve the general calm that existed throughout the vote.

Earlier in the day, opposition candidate Jean-Pierre Fabre alleged widespread irregularities in Thursday's vote, but maintained he was the victor of the presidential polls.

Speaking at a news conference in Lome late Friday, the candidate of the Union of Forces for Change said his party had polled an average of 75 to 80 percent of the vote, a figure that he said would have been higher without manipulations such as stuffing ballot boxes.

But the ruling party has rejected the alleged abnormalities and accused the opposition of efforts to instigate violence.

According to the United Nations, an estimated 400 people were killed in the violence that broke out on the heels of the 2005 presidential election, which, according to the world body, also led thousands of Togolese to seek refuge in Ghana and Benin.

President Gnassingbe is running for re-election after winning that 2005 vote, following the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ruled Togo for almost two decades.

Final results from the Thursday's vote are expected on Saturday or Sunday.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/120151.html.

Togo officially disqualified from Africa Cup of Nations - Summary

Mon, 11 Jan 2010

Luanda (Earth Times - dpa) - Togo were officially disqualified from this year's Africa Cup of Nations by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Monday for failing to play their opening Group B game against Ghana in Cabinda. The decision was made in the wake of the Togo squad's decision to leave Angola and return home Sunday, two days after a terror attack on their bus by the separatist Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) that left three people dead.

"They are disqualified. This group is a three-team tournament," African football's ruling body was quoted by the BBC as saying.

Earlier, a CAF official stated that the match referee had received the order to blow the starting whistle "and if the Togolese players are not there, they will have lost the match and will be disqualified".

The Togo team pulled out of the tournament after their bus driver, assistant coach Abalo Amnalete and team spokesman Stanislas Ocloo died in the attack.

Goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale was taken to intensive care in South Africa to receive treatment for gunshot wounds.

Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso are the other teams in Group B.

Togo team return home to national mourning

Mon, 11 Jan 2010

Nairobi/Lome, Togo (Earth Times - dpa) - Togo's national football team flew home from Angola after retiring from the Africa Cup following an attack on its bus by separatist militants. Thousands of fans were waiting Sunday night at Lome's airport, where the team was greeted by Prime Minister Gilbert Houngbo, the BBC reported.

The crowd watched quietly with many people in tears as the coffins bearing the two members of the delegation killed in the attack were carried across the runway.

Houngbo called it a "sad day" and a "disgrace for African football." The prime minister ordered the team's return home and sent a government plane to Angola to fly it back to the capital.

The Togolese delegation's bus came under fire Friday from separatists in the oil-rich Angolan province of Cabinda.

The bus driver, assistant coach Abalo Amnalete and team spokesman Stanislas Ocloo died in the attack. Goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale was taken to intensive care in South Africa to receive treatment for gunshot wounds.

A minute's silence for the victims was held before the opening game in Luanda Sunday. Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos condemned the attack in his opening speech but said Cabinda would remain one of the cup's venues.

The province is separated from the rest of Angola by around 40 kilometers of territory belonging to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Togolese were due to face Ghana's national team, known as the Black Stars, on Monday evening.

Togo team leaves tournament after deadly ambush

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN, AP Sports Writer

CABINDA, Angola – Hosting the African Cup of Nations was Angola's chance to show it is recovering from decades of war, but tragedy struck as gunmen sprayed bullets at Togo's national team, killing three people and forcing its withdrawal from the soccer tournament.

Africa's main soccer tournament was expected to open as planned on Sunday, even though players from other countries expressed shock at the ambush on the Togo team bus as it traveled through Angola's restive oil-rich Cabinda province.

"We have goose bumps ... who knows what is going to happen to us," Amade Chababe, assistant coach to the Mozambique national football team, told AP Television News as the squad passed through Johannesburg en route to Angola on Saturday.

In South Africa, the local organizing committee of the World Cup said the attack had no relevance to the upcoming global sports event that starts in June. Spokesman Rich Mkhondo said FIFA views Friday's attack as an isolated incident which could have happened anywhere in the world.

"We wish to state that there is no link between what happened in Angola and South Africa's preparations to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup," said Mkhondo, according to the South African Press Association. "We also cannot compare organization and security in Angola with South Africa just because the two countries happen to be in the same region in the world."

The attack in Angola, a former Portuguese colony, killed an assistant coach, a team spokesperson and the bus driver, according to the team and the Togolese government.

"Despite this, the championship will go on," Angola's Sports Minister Goncalves Muandumba said.

Togo forward Thomas Dossevi told The Associated Press in a phone interview that the team plans to withdraw from the continentwide tournament and fly out of the country early Sunday.

Emmanuel Adebayor who is captain of the Togo team and a top player for Manchester City, described a vicious attack on a defenseless team.

The violence came as a surprise because unrest associated with Cabinda, a northern enclave cut off from the rest of Angola by a strip of Congo, has been at low levels. The main separatist group is the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda, or FLEC. The Angolan information minister blamed the group for the attack.

Adebayor said that minutes after entering Cabinda "from nowhere gunmen began to open fire on our bus."

He said the team endured the gunfire for 13 minutes before Angolan soldiers repulsed the assailants.

Goalie Kossi Agassa — who plays for French club Istres and for the Togo team in the tournament — told France-Info radio that a Togo assistant coach and a spokesperson died and that a second team goalkeeper was badly wounded.

Kodjovi "Dodji" Obilale, an injured goalkeeper who also plays for the French club Pontivy, was flown to South Africa where he underwent surgery for injuries to his back, said club president Philippe Le Mestre by telephone from western France.

Richard Friedland, CEO of Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, told reporters that Obilale suffered two gunshot wounds to the lower back and will undergo surgery tonight.

"He is fully receptive. He understands where he is," Friedland said.

In Togo, the government said the Angolan driver was killed.

Angola's Information Minister Manuel Rabelais said Friday that eight team members and one Angolan were injured.

Togo's bus in a convoy from the Republic of Congo was six miles across the border in Angola when it came under fire.

The African Football Confederation (CAF) condemned the attack. A delegation of Angolan officials and a CAF delegation headed to Cabinda, while the Angolan Prime Minister was to meet CAF president Issa Hayatou "to take decisions to guarantee the smooth running of the competition."

FIFA also expressed "utmost sympathy" in a statement and said it expected a report from CAF.

Ivory Coast general manager Kaba Kone told The Associated Press on Saturday that his team was "shocked and are living through very hard times" but never considered pulling out of the tournament. He said the Ivorian players visited their Togolese counterparts late Friday to express their sympathy.

Kone said CAF and tournament organizers are stepping up security measures to guarantee the team's safety in Cabinda.

"This event can still be a big party," he said.

Angola has been struggling to climb back from decades of violence, and its government was banking on the tournament as a chance to show the world it was on the way to recovery.

A building boom fueled by oil wealth has included new stadiums in Cabinda and three other cities for the tournament.

An anti-colonial war had begun in the 1960s, and a civil war broke out after independence. The fighting ended in 2002 when the army killed Jonas Savimbi, leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, known as UNITA, now the main opposition party.

President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos had beaten Savimbi in the first round of 1992 presidential election, but Savimbi refused to accept defeat and returned to war before the second round could be held. Dos Santos remains president.