Interview / Alberto Olympio / To the Togolese people: "THE POWER IS YOU" and the Alternance is for NOW »

Forced to remain out of Togo due to a juridico-political cabal hounded against his person, Alberto Olympio, always closely follows the political situation of the country. The former president of the Togolese Party is not indifferent to the last demonstrations of the Togolese who want to finish once for good with the Gnassingbé dynasty. Since Senegal where he is now, Alberto Olympio has accepted to confide in our Writing. He returned to the last demonstrations that shook the country and called the people to resistance against the power of Faure Gnassingbé.



Liberté: Hello Alberto Olympio and thank you for agreeing to answer our questions.

Alberto Olympio: Hello, always available when it comes to Togo. Despite your "temporary" withdrawal from the Togolese political scene, you are following closely the political situation prevailing in the country. Tell us, are you surprised by the popular mobilization of September 6 and 7? Absolutely not. What has happened in Togo for a few weeks, because we must not forget the demonstration of strength of the PNP on August 19 last, it was foreseeable and expected of all the Togolese loving and working for the freedom of our country. Do you understand the aspirations of the Togolese people who clearly demand the departure of Faure Gnassingbe?







Who would not understand the aspirations of the Togolese people? Only a deaf, blind, and dumb regime can claim it. This regime is in the image of its leader who himself is deaf to the roar of the street, blind to the suffering of a country which he also flees on the slightest occasion and totally mute. The proof, more than three (3) weeks of trouble and not a single address to the Nation. It is normal in these conditions that the people aspire to something else. The Togolese people are determined this time to win the case. But, as usual, the regime of Faure Gnassingbé opposes a bloody repression to him throughout the territory. Do you think that this struggle can succeed, without the armed forces maintaining their republican character?



The Togolese authorities, by repressing peaceful demonstrations, show that the parody of purification was a mockery of the Togolese, who are still falling under the bullets and blows of the dictatorship. For all that, I think that nothing can stop a people in motion, and what we see for a few weeks is the Togolese nation that is moving. You are currently in Dakar where you participated in the demonstration of the Togolese living in Senegal to also demand the departure of Faure Gnassingbé. The entire Togolese diaspora around the world is also mobilized. Is it a new generalized awareness? But the Internet through which the Diaspora inquires about the news of the country was cut for five (5) days. Did the fear change?



Unquestionably YES! The regime is at bay. This is evidenced by his jerky stance and most certainly improvised. But the most important thing is not fear. What should keep us under pressure is the division signals within the UNIR house, daughter of the RPT. People are asking themselves serious questions because we are no longer in the 1990s and the world is looking at us, as you said. Moreover, the cutting of the Internet has only helped to focus the attention of the international press on our country. New technologies are increasingly able to circumvent cuts and no longer isolate a country completely by depriving its citizens of Internet connection or communications. I salute the ingenuity of our fellow citizens who have been able to circumvent censorship. With regard to the minister, it is a big red card. Internet censorship is a violation of individual freedoms. These are methods of another age. No one teaches this in American universities, at least not in those where I have been.

Despite all that is happening now, the head of state remains silent. Do you think that intervention on his part can bring down the tension? I think that the silence of the head of state is revealing of the divorce consummated between him and the people whom he claims to govern. He does not speak, certainly because he knows that the Togolese do not listen to him any more. Can they be reproached?

I do not believe. Who would listen to an interlocutor who never keeps his promises, unilaterally breaks his commitments and remains deaf to the grief of his people? Only one thing can bring down the tension: the departure of the head of state. What is your assessment of the draft bill for the revision of certain sections of the Constitution?



It is an attempt at diversion which should be considered as a non-event: eleven (11) years after the APG, the opposition must not be complicit in a new early revision of the nose and beard of the Togolese want a return to the Constitution they voted. A handful of politicians can not make the rain and the good weather when it comes to the fundamental law of our country. That's enough ! The Togolese Party is part of the coalition of democratic forces that launched the demonstrations. Today the opposition is together in the form of a unity of action. What is your assessment of this new dynamic?



Unity of action is a good thing, a good start. Now this unit must deliver true coordination, in the spirit and coherence of what was started by our PNP comrades. On the outside, the interlocutors ask for a clarification of the positions. Basically, they know what the people want, but they still have doubts about the intentions of the politicians. It is urgent to clarify the positions and especially to keep them informed without sending contradictory signals. The era of negotiation is over. Tikpi Atchadam is undoubtedly the rising figure of the opposition which remobilized the Togolese people. We learned that you had contacted him well before the demonstrations started. What did you tell him? And what do you think of his initiatives?



Tikpi is not a stranger, he is a brother in the struggle. I know his position on Togo and the possible outcomes of a crisis that has lasted too long. At the time already we knew and said that 2015 was the last chance for alternating through the ballot boxes. He refused to participate in the elections and his position on the Constitution has always been clear. I did speak to him before the demonstrations of the 19th of August, do not expect me to stretch myself here. Just know that he will always be able to count on my support, and that I am not the only one. What message do you have to the Togolese people, Faure Gnassingbe, your fellow fighters and the international community?



The Togolese head of state has serious problems. By dint of clinging to power, the latter is leaving him. He does not need me to be aware of it. To the international community, I would like to say that this time the people will have the last word.

It's a certainty. Be on his side. To my fellow fighters, I would like to say that I have never wanted to be in Togo with you in recent weeks. Here on my side, I do my part hoping that we will celebrate a common victory soon. Stay tuned and listen to the street. To the Togolese people, I will repeat what I said in 2016: "THE POWER IS YOU" and the Alternance is for NOW. When one wants to drive out a dictator, one does not ask his permission.





Interview by Shalom Ametokpo