Togo: Opposition calls for fresh protests in bid to unseat President Gnassingbe

AFP | Opposition groups in the West African state of Togo over the weekend called for fresh protests this week to maintain pressure in their campaign to unseat President Faure Gnassingbe.

In power since the death of his father in 2005, Gnassingbe is the scion of Africa’s oldest political dynasty, which has governed Togo for more than 50 years.
The president’s father, General Gnassingbe Eyadema, was in office from 1967 until his death in 2005.

In a statement, a coalition of 14 opposition parties urged supporters to turn out “in even greater numbers” on Wednesday and Thursday in rallies in the capital, Lome, in towns outside the capital and among the Togolese diaspora.
Wednesday’s protest is described as a “final warning” to the regime, and Thursday’s as a “march of anger.”

The opposition has mustered tens of thousands of people to demand Gnassingbe leave office – a turnout that has surprised many commentators.
Rallies on September 6 and 7 alone drew more than 100,000.

Responding to the pressure, the Gnassingbe administration has put forward a bill that proposes presidents can only serve a maximum of two 5-year terms.
Gnassingbe is on his 3rd term. The opposition want the 2-term restriction to be applied retroactively. He was re-elected in 2010 and again in 2015.

According to a source close to the presidency, the proposed change to the constitution will be put to a referendum “by the end of the year.”