Togo launches truth and reconciliation commission into 2005 elections

File this under: Too late.

Togolese officials have begun what they call “national consultations” to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission regarding the country’s 2005 election where an estimated 500 people were killed by police forces.

Presently, officials are fanning throughout the country looking to talk to members of all strata of society, taking opinions what the mandate, focus and responsibilities of such a commission should be.

Togo’s April 24, 2005 presidential election was rife with complications surrounding the succession of long-serving ruler Gnassingbe Eyadema, who had died a few months before. Opposition parties cried foul when the government circumvented the constitution after Eyadema’s sudden death on February 5 by naming his son, Faure Gnassingbe, president. Per the constitution, the post should have gone to speaker of Parliament. After domestic and international outcry, Faure eventually stepped down and was named Presidential contestant for the ruling party.

Citing a law that stipulates candidates must live in the country for the previous 12 months before an election, government officials also barred long-time opposition figure Gilchrist Olympio from the polls. Olympio, who was seriously injured during a 1992 assassination attempt against him, had been living in exile in France. Faure eventually won the election with 60 percent of the vote and has been trying to heal the country’s wounds since then.

Togo suspends independent journalist

From the International Federation of Journalists:

On 19 February, the High Authority of the Audiovisual and the Communication (HAAC) announced “the definitive suspension of editorials, columns, comments or analyses of Daniel Lawson-Drackey on Nana Fm,” a private radio station in Lomé, the capital city of Togo. The HAAC said that Lawson-Drackey’s radio broadcasts violate the principles of “respect of the dignity of the human person and the ethics in the field of information and communication.”

“We protest against this sanction, which aims to silence a professional journalist whose critical reporting upset the authorities,” said Gabriel Baglo, Director of the IFJ Africa office. “We call on the leaders of the High Authority of the Audiovisual and the Communication to cancel this penalty unconditionally.”

Whither Eyadéma?
On the bright side, this is one of the few press infractions reported from the Togolese government in some time. Since the 2005 election, in fact, according to Reporters Without Borders. The Paris-based press freedom group ranks Togo 49 out of 169 countries in its Press Freedom Index. That's the second-highest position for a West African state (behind Ghana).

Just to show you the difference a few years -- and a different president makes -- here is a snippet of the Reporters Without Borders country survey on Togo from 2004, the last full year of the 38-year Eyadéma mandate:

President Gnassingbé Eyadéma and his government continued to target the independent and opposition press. Two journalists were the victims of ill-treatment while detained. The state-owned press was still strictly controlled by the authorities.

Every dog has its day: Leadership and the cult of personality in Africa

In the United States, they say the longer a dog and his owner stay together, the more the two begin to resemble one another. In an anthropomorphically similar vein, how much do countries resemble their leaders? Let me put it another way: Do nations begin to pick up the traits of presidents, prime ministers in power, for it is these certain characteristics that attracted the populace to first vote for these people.

You could take this to mean many things. Is the United States still largely an incurious rich boy who somewhat recently found God? Is France more “moderne” and “chic” and now more happily married to a model than it was eight months ago?

I tend to believe in this argument – to a certain extent. Once a leader uses his or her personality to make a mark on a country, aspects of that personality within the national character – which had most likely always been there – shine a little more. Or, people pay more attention to them. (People didn’t pay that much attention to evangelicals in the U.S. before George Bush ran for national office.)

What then for African countries living under the rule of rulers for life? Is it more of the example of the dog and his owner? Was Burkina Faso wilder and looser when Blaise Compoare was in his mid-30s when he forced his way to power in 1987? Is Burkina Faso a staid and mature country today now he has reached a healthy “young” 57 and still in office?

In the Zimbabwe Standard, the human rights activist Brilliant Mhlanga asks similar questions of those living under long-ruling dictators, some of whom have spent their entire adult lives in office. Like the dog with a senile owner, what happens to people who have found themselves “being led by leaders whose geriatric state has become too dangerous not only to themselves and the coterie of people around them, but to their respective nations?”

Specifically, how did Togo fare during the final few laps of Gnassingbé Eyadéma’s rule?

…Eyadéma who managed to remain in power for 38 years and finally went wild before his death. Those who knew him closely even confess high levels of mental incapacitation; they say he had become so fuzzy to the extent that he even tended to forget some of his ministers after a cabinet reshuffle.

What about Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe has taken up to talking to himself, a trait he shares with Eyadéma.

Some social psychologists have referred to that condition as a return to the self; a dangerous state of mental warping capable only of producing a self-serving individual without a tinge of selflessness.

This is a child like state of mind. In such a state the nation and the people are positioned last. That state is bad and is a feature of most African leaders, surprisingly, when they are still in office.

And Cameroon, where Paul Biya has ruled since 1983, whom he describes as “a christian and French speaker runs this divided state with a heavy hand; of course, with the tacit approval of France.”

When he first got into power, he is said to have sweet talked everyone and showed positive shifts towards democracy, examples include his early call for a presidential election in which he stood as the sole candidate, and even called for relaxation of media laws. He challenged the media to work with him in order to address the challenges facing Cameroon. It was only at the end that the media woke up to discover they had been taken for a serious political joy ride, and it was no longer feasible to turn back. Now that he belongs to the geriatric ambit, he has even become more ruthless.

Mhlanga will continue this debate next week.

In Togo, the weight of history falls on January 13

In Togo, January 13 has always been laden with heavy meaning. It was January 13, 1963 when Togolese Army veterans from the French Foreign Legion assassinated the country’s first civilian president Sylvanus Olympio in what many claim marked the continent’s first military overthrow of a civilian government.

On January 13, 1967 one of the participants of that groundbreaking coup d’etat, Gnassingbé Eyadema, ousted the country’s second president Nicolas Grunitzky. It was a post Eyadema held until his death in February 2005.

The military, really the country’s ruling elite, have always celebrated January 13 with pomp and vigor, including a national festival and a grand parade in downtown Lomé. The opposition often boycotted the festivities and instead held a church service for their slain president. After Eyadema’s death, January 13 has become more of a polarizing force for the country.

When one of Eyadema’s sons, Faure Gnassingbé, came to power the opposition stepped up its criticism of the celebration. Faure met the opposition halfway, declaring Sylvanus “the Father of Togolese Independence” and called for a Church service in his honor; however, the military-based festivities went on as planned.

Three years later, Faure – recently elected to his second term and more interested in reforming the government to the approving nods of the donor community – is either in a mood of national reconciliation or better positioned to begin lifting the cult of personality surrounding his father. (Or both?) The government recently announced this year’s military celebration for the January 13 anniversary will take place out of the public’s eye in army barracks and Christians and Muslims also mark the day with a national day of prayer and reflection.

From the Ghanaian Chronicle, where I stole all the other information:

Reliable sources said the decision not to celebrate the 13th of January met with stiff resistance from some die-hard military conservatives who regaled in the 40 year old festival as an occasion for enjoying the fruits of their labour.

But many Togolese independent newspapers alleged that the voices of dissent were later silenced and pacified by President Faure Gnassingbé.

Intrigue flies as Faure names new cabinet in Togo

Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbé named a new cabinet, scraping the old unity government, reducing the number of ministers, ditching posts for the largest opposition party and sacking his brother, the former head of defense.

In a day full of shake ups, the biggest news is that Kpatcha Gnassingbé, Faure’s brother, will no longer be a part of the government. The press speculates that the two didn’t get along and Kpatcha was a threat to power because he originally battled Faure for the post of president after the 2005 death of their long-serving father, Gnassingbe Eyadema.

However, the break may be more profound than that. At least one researcher points out that as head of military militias, Kpatcha, who was nicknamed “vice president” by many, has long been implicated in numerous human rights violations and was responsible stocking the country’s military leadership with members of the northern Kabiyé ethnic group, the same group as the Gnassingbé family.

The move must still be seen as a consolidation of power, but perhaps Faure is slowly moving beyond politics of the past – the days of ethnic preference and a judicial blank check for the powerful military.

In other moves, Faure reduced the number of ministers to 21 from the previous 34. The main opposition party, the Union of Force for Change, lost its cabinet posts, Reuters said, after talks between the president and party leader Gilchris Olympio went nowhere.

"The RPT won the elections now they must govern," UFC spokesman Crosby Quist told Reuters. "If the RPT considers there is a crisis and calls on us, we will impose our demands."

In the October 14 legislation elections, which were generally considered to be free and fair, the ruling Rally of the Togolese People party, won 50 of 81 parliamentary seats, the UFC took 27 and former Prime Minister Yawovi Agboyibo’s Action Committee for Renovation won four.

Togo clears another hurdle: World Bank calls for donors to clear debts

From Reuters:

The World Bank will ask donors to clear debts of some $135 million owed to it by Togo after the West African state held multiparty polls in October, the Bank's representative in the former French colony said on Wednesday.

"We're quickly going to normalise relations between the World Bank and Togo. That means clearing the debts Togo owes to the Bank," James Bond, the Bank's director of operations in Togo, told reporters.

"Together with our partners in Washington we're going to find a solution, we're going to plead for Togo not to have to pay," he said.

He estimated that Togo's debts to the bank stood at $135 million and were increasing by $2 million each month.

The announcement comes weeks after the European Union restored full economic cooperation with Togo after a 14-year hiatus, citing the successful holding of parliamentary elections on October 14.

One good day the World Bank will be financially responsible for its own loans. And yes, I did notice the name of the director of operations. You infantile children.

Faure decides on a PM in Togo; opposition cries foul

Following weeks of jockeying and speculation, Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbé on Monday chose Komla Mally as the country’s new Prime Minister.

For opposition parties, it only took them a couple hours to cry foul.

Mally, a member of the ruling Togolese People’s Rally, or RPT, was most recently Minister of Urban Development and had also been a Prefect for several years. Fauré’s decision came after the ruling party took 50 of 80 seats in October 14 Parliamentary elections that were generally deemed free and fair.

According to Afriquenligne, after the elections Faure held face to face consultations with Gilchrist Olympio, head of the Union Forces for Change, which has the second largest block in parliament, although holding 27 seats, well behind the RPT.

At least one high-ranking official of the UFC says the party will not participate in the new government. He pointed out that a member of the UFC, the country’s largest opposition, has never had a member appointed to the level of minister.

In an interview with VOA, party leader Gilchrist Olympio claimed a government headed by Mally will not hold up.

"I think he [Mally] is some sort of civil servant, unknown to the public, unknown to the political class," he said. "Our general feeling is that at the stage of the talks between the president and the opposition, the current government could only be a caretaker, or temporary government."

Olympio says the opposition is focusing on reform

"We have to find a way in one form or another to translate the will of half the electorate into institutions that are in place in Togo, and so all our emphasis is reform of institutions and the constitution," he said.

Family affair(s)
The announcement of Mally comes just days after the European Union restored aid for the first time in more than a decade after Togo cleaned up its human rights record. The EU suspended aid during the long and harsh rule of Eyadema Gnassingbe, Fauré’s father, who died suddenly in 2005 after 38 years on the throne.

Togo is home to the continent's first military coup, in 1963, which Eyadema participated in, where independence leader and the country's first President, Sylvanus Olympio, was killed. Eyadema took power four years later, dissolving all political parties for a number of years and holding onto power until his death in 2005. Sylvanus is the father of opposition figure Gilcrhist Olympio.

It's official: EU recognizes Togo; IMF, World Bank next?

From Agence France Presse:

The EU's representative to Togo said Thursday the bloc had resumed "full" relations with the west African country, 14 years after ties were suspended amid widespread electoral violence.

European Commission envoy Filiberto Sebregoni said he had handed Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe an official EU letter marking "the restoration of full and complete cooperation with Togo."

He said the EU had ended the partial suspension of ties and the block on aid imposed in 1993 after violence derailed the introduction of democracy in Togo.

The measures were later confirmed under the terms of regional convention signed in 2000 in Benin.

"All restrictive measures have been lifted and Togo enters into a state of normal cooperation with the EU," Sebregoni told AFP.

He also said the EU would give Togo 123 million euros (180 million dollars) in development aid, in addition to the 40 million already released this month. A further 26 million has been pledged for institutional and urban projects.

Elections pay off for Togo

Looks like those mostly trouble-free elections were a good idea for the Government of Togo.

Reuters reports that the country has fulfilled the conditions of the European Union to restore cooperation.

Louis Michel, the EU's development and aid commissioner, made the announcement late on Saturday in Lome after meeting Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe, whose ruling RPT party won a big majority in the October 14 parliamentary polls.

The European Union, once Togo's biggest donor, froze most aid in 1993, citing the poor democratic record of the former French colony which has suffered decades of authoritarian rule and periods of bloody unrest since independence in 1960.

Holding multi-party elections met one of the conditions set by the EU for normalising cooperation, and international observers declared them broadly free, fair and transparent.

"From my point of view, the conditions for the full and complete normalisation of cooperation between the European Union and Togo are fulfilled," Michel told reporters after his talks with Gnassingbe.

Full cooperation should be formally restored in the coming weeks, he said.

For a background story (with a similar headline), see here.

Togo's electioneering may pay off

For the first time in a decade, Togo’s main opposition party, Union Forces for Change, attended parliament, Reuters says.

The opposition Union of Forces for Change (UFC) took 27 of the 81 seats in the national assembly in the vote, returning it to parliament for the first time since 1994.

The UFC had boycotted previous parliamentary polls under the authoritarian presidency of Gnassingbe Eyadema, an archetypal African strongman who died in February 2005 after almost four decades in power, saying they were not free or fair.

Eyadema's son, Faure Gnassingbe, who won elections in April 2005, last year set up a unity government headed by opposition politician Yawovi Agboyibo with the aim of reconciling the country and restoring democratic rule.

Faure’s party, the Rally of Togolese People, won 49 seats in elections that were generally described as “free and fair” with turnout around 85 percent.

This marks a break from past, when the ruling party often resorted to ballot-box tampering, intimidation and violence to win. Even as recent as 2005, government troops harassed opposition candidates and supporters during the election called after Eyadema’s death. The violence spread throughout the country and hundreds of people died, international observers claimed.

Togo’s politics hit rock bottom in 1993 when soldiers killed 20 people during the country’s first multi-party election. These killings followed the Bé Lagoon massacre of 1991 where 29 people were massacred by the Togolese army.

The European Union, Togo's largest funder, canceled aid funds shortly after the 1993 killings.

News agencies claim that the Togolese government is suffering from nearly 15 years without significant donor aid flowing into the country. The Faure administration counted on clean elections in an attempt to cast Togo’s political system in different light for the donor community.

However, a VOA report suggests that the EU or other donor countries should remain hesitant moving too quickly to restore Togo’s political legitimacy.

Analyst Kissy Agyeman of the London-based research group Global Insight says the lack of aid has greatly impaired development in Togo, and she expects a full restoration of funding. But, she says, international bodies will need to make sure the election was not just a show by the Togolese government to win back favor of the EU, but instead represents a true break from authoritarian rule of the past.

"I think the international community will be very mindful to ensure that this is not just a one-off thing and it is not just a means for Togo to get the funds. So I think there will be robust follow up," she noted.