Togo

The Togolese Republic is a country in West Africa, bordering Ghana in the west, Benin in the east and Burkina Faso in the north. In the south, it has a short Gulf of Guinea coast, on which the capital Lom? is located.

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Main Article: History of Togo

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Before European settlement

No one is quite sure what was happening in Togo before the Portuguese arrived in the late 15th century. Various tribes moved into the country from all sides - the Ew? from Nigeria and Benin and the Mina and Guin from Ghana. All of them settled on the coast. And all the surrounding countries.

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European Colony

When the slave trade began in earnest in the 16th century, several of the tribes - especially the Mina - became agents for the European traders, travelling inland to buy slaves from the Kaby? and other northern tribes. Denmark staked a claim on Togo in the 18th century, but in 1884, Germany signed a deal with a local king, Mlapa III, and Togoland became a German colony. The Germans brought scientific cultivation to the country's main export crops (cacao, coffee and cotton) and developed its infrastructure to the highest level in Africa. Still in 1914, Togo was occupied by French and British forces. Togo was split between the British and the French by League of Nations mandates after World War I ended in 1918.

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Independence

During the colonial period, the Mina grew in political and economic influence by virtue of their coastal position and long association with Europeans. The Ew?, by contrast, were divided with the dissection of Togoland, and political groups on both sides began to agitate for reunification. Hopes for unity were dashed when British Togoland voted to be incorporated into Ghana, then on the brink of independence. After the expiration of the French-administered UN trusteeship on April 27 1960, the French side declared its independence, with French Togoland becoming Togo.

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Military Coup d'Etat

In 1963, Togo became the first country on the continent to experience a military coup following independence (Africa has averaged at least two a year since then, plus many more unsuccessful attempts). President Sylvanus Olympio, who took office as soon as Togo gained independence in 1960, was overthrown by 626 Togolese veterans of the French army. When Olympio refused to allow the veterans, many of whom had fought in Indochina and Algeria, to join Togo's army, they deposed him in a military coup on January 13, 1963. He was killed the next day, shot by Sgt. ?tienne Eyad?ma. Olympio's brother-in-law, Nicolas Grunitzky, returned from exile and was put in charge, but he too was deposed in January 1967 by then Lt Colonel (later General) ?tienne Eyad?ma who became president. Since then, despite the fa?ade of multiparty rule instituted in the early 1990s, the government continues to be dominated by the military, which has maintained its power continuously since 1967 and is loyal to Eyad?ma and his family.

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Eyad?ma set out to unify the country, insisting on one trade union confederation and one political party. After nearly losing his life in a plane crash that he (at least publicly) chalked up to an assassination attempt, Eyad?ma nationalised the country's phosphate mines and ordered all Togolese to take an African name. He renamed himself Gnassingb? Eyad?ma.

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Economic expansion

It was, however, only a perfunctory strike against colonialism: Togo remained heavily dependent on the West. From the late 1960s to 1980, Togo experienced a booming economy, built largely on its phosphate reserves, and Eyad?ma tried to mould the country into a traveller's and investor's paradise. His plans proved overly ambitious, and when the recession of the early 1980s hit and phosphate prices plummeted, Togo's economy fell into ruin. The government was plagued by numerous coup attempts. Eyad?ma himself fired many of the shots that killed 13 attackers in a 1986 coup.

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Fight for democracy

In the early 1990s, the international community began putting pressure on Eyad?ma to democratize, a notion he resisted with a few waves of his trademark iron fist. Pro-democracy activists - mainly southern Mina and Ew? - were met with armed troops, killing scores of protesters in several clashes. The people of France and Togo were furious, and under their backlash Eyad?ma gave in. He was summarily stripped of all powers and made president in name only. An interim prime minister was elected to take over command, but not four months later his residence was shelled with heavy artillery by Eyad?ma's army. Their hardball tactics continued into 1993.

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Terror strikes against the independent press and political assassination attempts became commonplace, while the promised 'transition' to democracy came to a standstill. The opposition continued to call general strikes, leading to further violence by the army and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of southerners to Ghana and Benin. Using intimidation tactics and clever political machinations that disqualified one opposition party and caused another to refuse to participate, Eyad?ma won the 1993 presidential elections with more than 96% of the vote. In the years following, opposition parties have lost most of their steam and Eyad?ma's control has become almost as firm as before the crisis began.

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In August 1996, Prime Minister Edem Kodjo resigned, and the planning minister, Kwassi Klutse, was appointed prime minister. Eyad?ma won another five-year term in June 1998 with 52% of the vote, nearly being defeated by Gilchrist Olympio, son of Sylvanus Olympio. Later investigations revealed widespread human rights abuses.

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In 2002, in what critics called a 'constitutional coup', the national assembly voted unanimously to change the constitution and allow Eyad?ma to 'sacrifice himself again' and run for a third term during the 2003 presidential elections. The constitutional change eliminated presidential term limits. Meanwhile, Gilchrist Olympio's attempts to beat the man who overthrew his father were scuppered yet again when he was banned from running on a tax-law technicality.

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Despite allegations of electoral fraud, Eyad?ma won 57% of the votes in the 2003 elections, which international observers from the African Union described as generally free and transparent. For many Togolese, there was little optimism for the future and a prevailing sense of d?j? vu as Eyad?ma extended his record as Africa's longest-serving ruler.

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Current political situation

On February 5 2005, Eyad?ma died of a heart attack. Shortly afterwards, his son Faure Gnassingb? was named by Togo's military as the country's leader, raising numerous eyebrows. The constitution of Togo declared that in the case of the president's death, the speaker of Parliament takes his place, and has 60 days to call new elections. However, on February 6th, Parliament retroactively changed the Constitution, declaring that Faure would hold office for the rest of his father's term, with elections deferred until 2008.

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The African Union described the takeover as a military coup d'?tat. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4241001.stm International pressure came also from the United Nations. Within Togo, opposition to the takeover culminated in riots in which four people died. In response, Gnassingb? agreed to hold elections in April 2005. On February 25, Gnassingb? resigned as president, soon after accepting nomination to run for the office in April. Parliament designated Deputy Speaker Bonfoh Abbass as interim president until the inauguration of the election winner. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/02/25/international/i180735S60.DTL On May 3, 2005, Gnassingb? was sworn in as the new president garnering 60% of the vote according to official results. Disquiet has continued however with the opposition declaring the voting rigged, claiming the military stole ballot boxes from various polling stations in the South, as well as other election irregularities, such as telecommunication shutdown. http://www.scidev.net/gateways/index.cfm?fuseaction=readitem&rgwid=4&item=Opinions&itemid=401&language=1 The European Union has suspended aid in support of the opposition claims, while the African Union and the United States have declared the vote "reasonably fair" and accepted the outcome. The Nigerian president and Chair of the AU, Olusegun Obasanjo, has sought to negotiate between the incumbent government and the opposition to establish a coalition government, but surpisingly rejected an AU Commission appointment of former Zambian president, Kenneth Kaunda, as special AU envoy to Togo (http://allafrica.com/stories/200506060694.html and http://allafrica.com/stories/200507040093.html).

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West Africa: West Africa is the region of western Africa that is generally considered to include the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, C?te d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. In addition, the region is sometimes consider...

Ghana: :For other meanings: see Ghana (disambiguation)...

Benin: The Republic of Benin is a nation of western Africa, formerly known as Dahomey. It has a small coast line with the Bight of Benin in the south, borders Togo in the west, Nigeria in the east, and Burkina Faso and Niger in the north....

Togo related Images and Photos (experimental)

To Go Beyond	Where To Go	Dare to Go Far	Chef To Go
Yamodo! Good to Go! Travel Game	Ready to Go	Yahtzee To Go Game	Blokus To Go Board Game
UNO H20 To Go Card Game	Min Pin To Go	Scrabble To Go	Pictionary Man To Go