Togo election peaceful but troubled

Bloody and deadly violence have too often been Togo’s political “daily bread” during elections since the 1990’s. This violence has traumatized the Togolese so deeply that, by the time the 2010 presidential polling began on March 4, people had already made plans to seek refuge in neighboring countries.

Going to the polls in Togo was never the real problem. The problems occurred after the election, when the incumbent found ways, usually violent ones, to impose results he wanted.

For the last 40 years, that incumbent has been the RPT (Togo People’s Rally), either under the “dictatorial” leadership of the late Eyadema Gnassingbe or his son, Faure Gnassingbe.

In its efforts to influence the elections after the fact, the RPT and Gnassingbe family used the army to enforce bans on protests. The army dispersed crowds with beatings, tear gas, and even shooting protestors. After the 2005 election of Bob Akitani of the UFC (Union of the Forces for Change) party, the army killed some 100 protesters and prompted thousands of refugees to flee, the Afrol Times reported.

2010 Togo Election Results

To avoid a repeat of this bloody pattern, a coalition of Togolese watchdog organizations and political parties formulated a “code of good manners” that committed the signatories remain calm, whatever the outcome of the election.

This code is aimed at "implanting a calm, nonviolent, respectful political life of human-rights principles and democratic values”, and was initiated in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) by a group consisting of the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH), National Democratic Institute (NDI-Togo) and four political parties, including the front-running RPT.

“Signing this code,” said Mr. Innocent Popole, the representative of the CNDH, “shows the strong will of the actors of the polling process, to decide by consensus a free, transparent and peaceful poll.”