Togo

Heavy security presence in Lome amid public anger over leader Gnassingbe’s alleged power grab.

Togo has voted in municipal elections amid reports of voter apathy, after the country was rocked by deadly protests last month.

Polling stations in Togo’s capital Lome were largely deserted on Thursday. The low turnout came after June’s protests against constitutional reforms that could keep leader Faure Gnassingbe in power indefinitely.

Rights groups blamed the police for the deaths of seven marchers in the protests, whose bodies had been fished out from the capital’s rivers by activists.

“People are … afraid of being attacked by protesters for legitimising these elections, or afraid of being dispersed by security forces,” Edem Adjaklo, a voter in the Gakli neighbourhood, told The Associated Press news agency.

“They feel it’s pointless to vote because the results are always the same – predetermined.”

The sense of unease in Lome was reportedly heightened by a heavy police and military presence at major intersections.

Despite a call for demonstrations against Gnassingbe, the streets of the seaside capital were quiet on Thursday.

Gnassingbe has ruled the country since 2005, after the death of his father and predecessor as president, Gnassingbe Eyadema.

The constitutional reforms, approved by a parliament dominated by Gnassingbe’s Union pour le Republic (UNIR) party, swapped the presidential system in the country for a parliamentary one.

Under the reforms, Gnassingbe was sworn in two months ago as president of the Council of Ministers – effectively as prime minister – a role with no official term limits, which would allow him to be re-elected indefinitely.

Critics called it a “constitutional coup”.

Diaspora-based social media influencers and civil society groups had called for a boycott of the elections, the first national vote organised since the constitutional reform.

This year’s bout of protests was triggered after popular rapper and TikToker Tchala Essowe Narcisse, popularly known as Aamron, was arrested for publishing a video where he called for protests to mark the president’s June 6 birthday.

Anger had also been simmering over the state of the economy, widespread unemployment and the repression of government critics.

Public demonstrations have been banned in the country since protests between 2017 and 2018, which saw thousands of protesters taking to the streets in demonstrations tagged “Faure Must Go” and “Togo stands up”.

Although officially a democracy, Togo operates in practice as a militarised state, with the army heavily involved in politics.

Tensions are palpable in the West African nation of Togo as highly anticipated local government elections are being held following weeks of angry protests calling for leader Faure Gnassingbe to resign.

Although small, Togo commands weight as a developing maritime and transit hub in the region because of an important port in the seaside capital, Lome, which is perched on the edge of the Atlantic. The country serves as a gateway into inland Sahel nations and is also home to a major West African airline, meaning unrest there could reverberate across the region.

Voters heading out to cast their ballots on Thursday, July 17, are expected to elect leaders of the country’s 117 municipalities, amid a heavier-than-usual security presence and shuttered land borders.

At the same time, demonstrators have scheduled protests in the capital, Lome, to intentionally clash with the date of the vote, prompting fears of possible widespread violence.

Led largely by the country’s youth population, antigovernment demonstrations erupted in June after a controversial constitutional change. Protests have been met with brute force from Togolese security forces; at least seven people have died, local rights groups say. The protests are only the latest in the restive country, where more frequent demonstrations in recent years are pressuring the decades-long dynastic government.

Here’s what to know about the current political situation in Togo:

Why are Togolese protesting?

Large demonstrations have been held in Lome in recent years, with Togolese calling for Gnassingbe, who has led the country since 2005, to step down.

Between 2017 and 2018, thousands of protesters took to the streets in demonstrations tagged “Faure Must Go” and “Togo stands up”. The uprising rocked the nation of four million and resulted in violent crackdowns from security officials. The government thereafter banned public demonstrations for “security reasons”.

Although officially a democracy, Togo operates in practice as a militarised state, with the army heavily involved in politics. The capital is crawling with stern-faced, armed gendarmes who are often accused of arresting and torturing dissidents.

This year’s bout of protests was triggered after popular rapper and TikToker Tchala Essowe Narcisse, popularly known as Aamron, was arrested for publishing a video where he called for protests to mark the president’s June 6 birthday.

However, anger had been simmering over the high costs of living in the country, and particularly, over new constitutional reforms that opposition leaders and civil society organisations say could see Gnassingbe rule for life. Thursday’s municipal elections will be the first polls held under the new reforms.

First approved in April 2024 by a parliament dominated by the governing Union pour le Republic (UNIR) party, the constitutional amendment swapped the presidential system in the country for a parliamentary one.

Controversially, though, it also introduced a new all-powerful position: President of the Council of Ministers. The role essentially regains all the powers of a president and is without clear official limits. Opposition leaders argued at the time that it would allow Gnassingbe to appoint a dummy president and remain the de facto leader until at least 2030. They called it a “constitutional coup”.

On May 3 this year, Gnassingbe was sworn into the new executive role, as critics predicted. Politician Jean-Lucien Savi de Tove, 86, is now president, and is the oldest in Togo’s history.

In late June, thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets of Lome in anger, calling for Gnassingbe to step down from office after rapper Aamron’s arrest and alleged torture. Protesters set up barricades and hurled stones at security forces, who responded with force, firing tear gas canisters into the crowd, according to reporting by the Reuters news agency.

Le Front Citoyen Togo Debout, a coalition of 12 civil society and human rights groups, accused security officials of arbitrarily arresting civilians, beating them with batons and ropes, and stealing and destroying private property.

At least seven people were discovered dead in the aftermath of the protests, according to the coalition, including two minors. Their bodies were discovered days after the demonstrations in various lagoons and lakes around Lome.

Meanwhile, a Togolese government statement said the deaths were caused by drowning and cautioned residents living near water bodies to be extra careful in the current rainy season.

The ‘Don’t Touch My Constitution’ movement demanded an international investigation into the claims, while Togo’s Catholic Bishops said the levels of violence were “unacceptable and unjustified”.

Who is Faure Gnassingbe?

Just days after his father died in 2005, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe was hurriedly installed as the country’s president by the army, extending decades of his family’s rule over Togo.

Despite outrage in the country, which led to widespread protests in which at least 500 people were killed, the younger Gnassingbe did not relinquish power and went on to organise and win elections that year, which many critics called a ruse.

His father, the late Gnassingbe Eyadema, seized power in a military coup and ruled the country with a tight fist for 38 years (1967-2005), making him the longest-serving African ruler at the time he died. His “rule of terror” was characterised by a one-party system and deadly repression of dissent, according to Amnesty International. The younger Gnassingbe, while having fostered multi-party rule and infrastructural development in the country, appears to be angling for his father’s record, critics say.

Combined, the father-son duo has commandeered Togo for 58 years. With 60 percent of the population under 35, most Togolese have never experienced life under a different political administration.

Gnassingbe has won every election since 2005. In 2019, in an attempt to circumvent demonstrations calling for his resignation, parliament ushered in constitutional amendments that, the government argued, automatically reset Gnassingbe’s terms. That allowed him to run for the 2020 and 2025 presidential elections.

At first glance, the latest reforms from 2024 appear to acquiesce to what some critics have been demanding: A weakened president elected by the parliament for a single six-year term, rather than an all-powerful leader.

However, what most did not see coming was that Gnassingbe would be appointed to a more powerful position.

Are protesters being targeted? And what is the M66 Movement?

As tensions simmer, demonstrators and civil society accuse Togolese officials of targeting protest leaders, many of whom are living in exile in neighbouring countries, as well as France and the United States.

Last week, the government issued international arrest warrants targeting those believed to be leading organisers, especially members of the M66 Citizens’ Movement – a political collective of bloggers and activists, named after Gnassingbe’s June 6 birthday date. Officials say the group is “inciting unrest and terrorism” in the country.

“The countries where these individuals reside are urged to cooperate,” Security Minister Calixte Madjoulba said at a news briefing. “Wherever they are, we will pursue them.”

M66 members called for renewed protests on July 16 and 17 in a bid to boycott the municipal elections, which form part of a wider push by the government to devolve power at the centre and attempt to improve local governance. Local elections were not held between 1986 and 2020, as the government kept postponing them. Instead, the central authorities designated special administrators who critics say served the government’s interests.

Some opposition leaders have also called for boycotts, although Jean-Pierre Fabre, leader of the main opposition National Alliance for Change, told reporters this week that taking part in the vote was necessary to show Togolese what’s possible.

“The elections will not change anything in this country and we know it very well,” Zaga Bambo, a France-based music artist who claims to be a member of the group, said in a Facebook post. Bambo also dismissed the arrest warrants, telling French media channel RFI that he was unfazed by it.

Activist Farida Nabourema echoed calls for boycotts on social media platform X. “You participate, you lose, you cry out, then you fall silent. And every five years, you start over,” she wrote.

Lome, Togo – The chants have faded in the streets, the barricades have been cleared, and an eerie calm hangs over Togo after days of mass protests in the West African nation’s capital. But beneath the surface, anger simmers, security forces remain stationed at key intersections, and many fear the storm is far from over.

From June 26 to 28, thousands took to the streets of Lome to protest constitutional reforms that critics say enable President Faure Gnassingbe to remain in power indefinitely. The 59-year-old – in office since 2005 following the death of his father, who ruled for 38 years – was recently sworn in as president of the Council of Ministers, a powerful executive role with no term limits under a newly adopted parliamentary system.

The protests were swiftly and violently suppressed.

At least four people are believed to have died, dozens were injured, and more than 60 were arrested, according to local civil society groups. Verified videos circulating online show beatings, street chases, and men in plain clothes dragging civilians away.

But in a country long used to political fatigue and fractured opposition, the past week marked a rupture.

Rejecting a political dynasty

To many observers, these protests represent more than a reaction to constitutional reform: They signal a generational break.

“These young people are not simply protesting a new constitution,” said Pap Koudjo, a Togolese journalist and essayist. “They are rejecting 58 years of political inheritance, from father to son, that has brought nothing but poverty, repression, and humiliation.”

Most of the protesters were under 25. Many have never known another leader. They have grown up with frequent blackouts, crumbling infrastructure, joblessness and shrinking freedoms. The constitutional change, which removed term limits from the new executive role and eliminated direct presidential elections, was a red line.

The government attempted damage control. A steep 12.5 percent electricity price hike – another source of rage – was quickly withdrawn. The activist singer Aamron, whose arrest days earlier had galvanised public anger, was discreetly released.

But neither move stemmed the unrest.

“The arrest of Aamron was a trigger,” said Paul Amegakpo, a political analyst and chair of the Tamberma Institute for Governance. “But the real story is that this regime has lost its ability to offer a negotiated and institutional solution to the crisis. It is relying purely on military strength.”

He points to signs of disquiet within the state itself. A rare statement from former Defence Minister Marguerite Gnakade, condemning the violence and Gnassingbe’s leadership, suggests fractures may exist at the highest levels of the security apparatus.

“There’s an institutional void,” Amegakpo said. “Two months after the transition to the Fifth Republic, the country still has no appointed government,” he added, referring to the post-amendment Togo.

Civil society fills the vacuum

Perhaps more telling than the protests themselves is who led them. Not traditional opposition parties, which have been weakened by years of cooptation and exile, but influencers from the diaspora, civil society activists, artists and uncelebrated citizens.

“The opposition has been exhausted – physically, politically, and financially,” said Koudjo. “After decades of failed dialogue and betrayed agreements, the youth has stepped in.”

As protests surged, more institutional voices followed. Several civic organisations issued strong statements condemning the “disproportionate use of force” and demanding independent investigations into the deaths and disappearances. Though not leading the mobilisation, these groups echoed growing alarm about the government’s response and the erosion of civic space.

The Media Foundation for West Africa warned that the environment for free expression in Togo was “shrinking dangerously”, a sentiment echoed by other international observers.

To Fabien Offner, a researcher for Amnesty International, the crackdown is part of a larger, entrenched system.

“What we’re seeing is not an isolated event – it’s the continuation of a repressive architecture,” Offner told Al Jazeera. “We’ve documented patterns of arbitrary arrests, beatings with cords, posturing torture, and impunity – all now normalised.”

Amnesty says families are still searching for loved ones taken during the protests. Some have received no information on their whereabouts or legal status.

“This is not just about protest management. It’s about the systematic denial of fundamental rights,” Offner said.

He added that the government’s claim that protests were “unauthorised” is a misreading of international law. “Peaceful assembly does not require prior approval. What’s unlawful is systematically preventing it.”

Amnesty is calling for an independent inquiry into the deaths, a public list of detainees, and full transparency from prosecutors. But Offner also addressed a more uncomfortable truth: international silence.

“Togo has become a diplomatic blind spot,” he said. “We need stronger, more vocal engagement from the African Union, ECOWAS, the United Nations, and key bilateral partners. Their silence emboldens the cycle of repression. They must speak out and act.”

Even the country’s Catholic bishops, traditionally cautious, warned in a rare statement of the risks of “implosion under suppressed frustration”, and called for “a sincere, inclusive and constructive dialogue”.

Togo’s unrest also reflects a broader trend across West Africa, observers note, where youth-led movements are increasingly challenging entrenched political orders – not just at the ballot box, but in the streets, on social media and through global solidarity networks.

From the recent mobilisations in Senegal to popular uprisings in Burkina Faso, young people are asserting their agency against systems they view as unresponsive, outdated or undemocratic. In Togo, the protests may be domestic in origin, but they are part of a wider regional pulse demanding accountability and renewal.

The government holds its line

“These were not peaceful assemblies – these were attempts to disrupt public order,” said Gilbert Bawara, minister of public service and senior figure in the UNIR governing party.

Bawara denied that security forces committed systematic abuses, and insisted that “if there were any excesses, they should be examined based on facts, not rumours.” He added that the government remains open to dialogue, but only with “visible, structured interlocutors”, not anonymous calls from abroad.

He also defended the recent constitutional changes, arguing that they had followed a legitimate process. “If anyone disagrees, they can petition, they can participate in elections. These are the foundations of a democratic society,” Bawara told Al Jazeera.

But critics argue that such avenues are largely symbolic under the current government. With the governing party dominating institutions, controlling the security forces and sidelining opposition figures through arrests, exile and cooptation, many view the political playing field as fundamentally rigged.

“There are democratic forms, yes,” said analyst Paul Amegakpo. “But they are hollow. The rules may exist on paper – elections, assemblies, petitions – but power in Togo is not contested on equal footing. It is captured and preserved through coercion, clientelism and constitutional engineering.”

Amegakpo said the regime’s recent moves suggest it is more focused on optics than engagement.

“The government has announced its own peaceful march on July 5,” he noted. “But that reveals something deeper: they are not listening. They are responding to social and political suffering with PR and counter-demonstrations.”

Moment of reckoning

What comes next is uncertain. Protests have subsided for now, but the heavy presence of security forces and internet slowdowns suggest continued anxiety.

Analysts warn that if unrest spreads beyond Lome, or if cracks widen within the security apparatus, the country could face a deeper crisis.

“We are not yet in a revolutionary situation,” Amegakpo said. “But we are in a deep rupture. If the regime keeps refusing to acknowledge it, the cost may be higher than they imagine.”

For the youth who led the protests, the message is clear: they are no longer willing to wait.

“There is a divorce between a generation that knows its rights and a regime stuck in survival mode,” said Koudjo. “Something has changed. Whether it will lead to reform or repression depends on what happens next.”