IN Togo, activists and opposition leaders have issued a fervent call to action, urging protests to thwart President Faure Gnassingbe’s plans to enact a new constitution that could potentially prolong his rule until 2031. The proposed constitution, recently approved by the country’s lawmakers, awaits President Gnassingbe’s final endorsement.
The contentious constitution, if ratified, would strip away future presidential elections, granting parliament the authority to appoint the president directly. This move raises concerns that Gnassingbe could secure re-election when his current mandate expires in 2025.
‘While some argue the constitution imposes a one-term limit on future presidents and enhances the powers of a figure akin to a prime minister, dubbed the president of the council of ministers, we fear it could serve as another avenue for Gnassingbe to consolidate his grip on power,’ said Eric Dupuy, spokesperson for the opposition National Alliance for Change party.
Moreover, the proposed constitution extends presidential terms from five to six years, with Gnassingbe’s almost two-decade-long tenure not factored into the term limit.
‘We know that the struggle will be long and hard, but together with the Togolese people, we will do everything we can to prevent this constitutional coup d’état,’ stated Dupuy.
However, tensions escalated on Wednesday when police dispersed a news conference organised by the opposition, ejecting leaders and journalists from the venue.
Echoing opposition sentiments, Togo’s Catholic bishops voiced concerns over the legality of the parliament’s actions, arguing that their mandate expired ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections.
‘The Assembly has no power to revise a constitution,’ Zeus Ajavon, a lecturer in Constitutional Law at the University of Lome, told The Associated Press (AP). ‘The power to revise the constitution is vested in it during its term of office.’
Ajavon also argued that a referendum was necessary for the country to adopt a new constitution.
Togo, with a population of approximately 8 million people, has been under the rule of the same family for 57 years, initially led by Eyadema Gnassingbe and subsequently by his son, Faure Gnassingbe, who assumed office in 2005 amidst controversy over election integrity, as described by the opposition.