REPUBLIC OF TOGO Official name: Republique Togolaise (Republic of Togo) Location: West Africa International organisations: The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, The African Union, The Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, The United Nation, The World Trade Organisation Borders: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana Coastline: Bight of Benin Land area: 56,785 Km2 Population: 5,200,000 Ethnicity: Almost the entire population is of West African stock. The largest ethnic groups are the Ewe, the Mina and the Kabre. Languages: French is the official language and the language of business and communications. Many African languages are spoken, the most widely used being Ewe and Kabre. Religion: The half the population follow indigenious religious beliefs. About 30% are Catholic Christians and about 20% are Sunni Moslems. Form of government: Presidential republic. Togo is divided into five regions.

Capital: Lome
Constitution: The Constitution of the Republic of Togo came into effect on 27 September 1992.
Head of state: The President, elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term.
Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President. The Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party in the legislature and is accountable to it.
Legislature: Togo has a unicameral legislature. The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) has 81 members, elected for five-year terms from single-seat constituencies.
Electoral authority: The National Independent Election Commission (CENI) administers national elections
Freedom House rating: Political Rights 5, Civil Liberties 5

Political history

The coastal area of what is now Togo was brought under German rule in 1884, although control of the interior was not established until after 1900. In August 1914 the territory was seized by Britain and France, and some of its territory was transferred to the British Gold Coast colony (now Ghana). The remainder became a League of Nations mandate under French administration. This became a United Nations mandate in 1946.

In 1958 a UN-supervised plebiscite saw Togolese vote for full independence, and Sylvanus Olympio was elected president. He was assassinated during an army coup in 1963. In 1967 a second coup brought Lt-Col Gnassingbe Eyadema to power, and he has been president ever since. From 1969 he ruled as a dictator under a typical African one-party regime, but international pressure led him to introduce a new multi-party constitution in 1992.

Eyadema and his party, the Rally of the Togolese People, continue to dominate Togolese politics, and the 2002 legislative elections were boycotted by the opposition Union of the Forces for Change, led by by Gilchrist Olympio. In 2002 Eyadema amended the Constitution to allow him to seek re-election in 2003. On 1 June 2003 he was re-elected, although the opposition again claimed the elections were rigged.

Amnesty International's 2002 Report on Togo condemned Eyadema's continued manipulation of the electoral process and noted that: "Freedom of expression continued to be threatened. Prisoners of conscience were sentenced to prison terms after unfair political trials. Impunity for those responsible for human rights violations in the last two decades continued. A joint commission of inquiry by the UN and Organization of African Unity (OAU) reported on widespread human rights violations and confirmed that bodies had been found at sea and on the beaches of neighbouring Benin at the time of the 1998 presidential elections."

"In September 2001 the European Parliament condemned any attempt to amend the Constitution, and called on the Togolese authorities to hold free and transparent elections as soon as possible. It also called for an end to the climate of impunity in Togo and for those responsible for human rights violations to be brought to justice."

For a recent commentary (in French) on Togolese politics, see the International Federation of Human Rights website.