In the aftermath of the April 2015 presidential election in Togo, it was almost unanimous that President-elect Faure Gnassingbé would have full latitude to spend a quiet five-year term. The coup de force at the time of the proclamation of the results of the vote by the president of the CENI Taffa Tabiou, the validation of the results by the Constitutional Court, the timid protest of the divided divided on a background of police repression quickly put back selle the one who had come to power ten (10) years earlier.
The announcement by him of a social mandate to which some minds believed ultimately sounded the death knell of any form of contestant strike, with the power to replenish without taking the true measure of the clues of the deflagration that was looming on the horizon . Then followed, as usual, the muffled grumbling of the bruised people, except that for this time the actions of liberation from the yoke of oppression and misery will be part. August 19, 2017 will be the first illustration. Here are some things that could tip power if it does not care.
Managing events in 2017 in Togo, such as 1990?
As we know, the frontal contestation of the Eyadema regime was opened in Togo on October 5, 1990. At that time, power was at the end of the rifle and most of the political regimes in Africa had as their base the army . Togo therefore did not derogate from the rule of repression and to this end all components of the army were involved. From the lagoon of Bè to Fréau Jardin, passing by the camp of the Inter-Armes Regiment (now Camp GGE), the massacre of both civilian and military populations is a well-known fact. Indeed, we have gone even further in talking about the purge of the armed forces when it is a question of massacring the soldiers who had taken a stand in favor of the people on the night of 24 to 25 March 1993.
A quarter of a century later, even though the perpetrators of these atrocities are no longer practically on the Togolese political scene, the system and the regime remain and remain the same. This is reflected in the measures adopted since 19 August; Faced with the outcry over the treatment inflicted on the demonstrators and aware of a stronger mobilization of the people on 6 and 7 September, the political technocrats of power have found no better than casting darkness on the fate they have reserved for the demonstrators: the cut-off of the Internet for the sole purpose of avoiding the dissemination of images and videos of the atrocities that were to be committed, repression in the blood, flagrant violation of the rights and dignity of the person, tear gas shots even in the homes in certain districts,
Actions that will turn against the power in place
What Faure Gnassingbé's regime seemed to ignore is, of course, the fact that certain actions which are presented as deterrents are rather counterproductive and cause effects contrary to those expected of them. The Internet cut for several days, besides the loss of profit of the supplying companies, has caused a blow for the majority of the population who already struggle to survive in a bloodless economic atmosphere. The only deduction that can naturally be made of this situation is the fact that in order to establish its backs the government chose to starve instead thousands of Togolese, automatically making them opponents if the latter till then still spared it. The lie which led to this act only exacerbated the indignation of both.
Moreover, the images and videos of the repression of the 6 and 7 put online even later have aroused waves of indignation in the opinion. If, wanting to do as much harm as possible to discourage was the original idea, it goes without saying today that the true face of Faure Gnassingbé's regime has been discovered, particularly with regard to human rights issues. and public freedoms for which the Togolese government is expert in sprinkling the facts. The other fact that militates against the regime in place in Lomé is the elastic reign of the Gnassingbe. This situation naturally goes badly in the most international opinion. In addition, the fact that Faure Gnassingbe has always refused to limit the presidential mandates isolates him more and more among his peers who one by one withdraw their support gradually. On the other hand, the new dynamics of the Togolese opposition today, characterized by a uniqueness of action and an active solidarity of the democratic forces, leave little room for discordant voices within this grouping.
Moreover, some serious organizations of civil society play the role of watch and warning in this direction. Faced with this situation and in view of the consequent relay of the information that the international media are making on the situation of Togo, a country whose head of state is the current president of ECOWAS, it can be said that the regime of Faure Gnassingbé is well in bad shape.
Kossi Ekpé
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