Faure Gnassingbé

Faure Gnassingbé
Faure Gnassingbé 29 November 2006
President of Togo
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 May 2005
Prime Minister	Koffi Sama Edem Kodjo Yawovi Agboyibo Komlan Mally Gilbert Houngbo Kwesi Ahoomey-Zunu
Preceded by	Bonfoh Abass (Acting)
In office 5 February 2005 – 25 February 2005
Prime Minister	Koffi Sama
Preceded by	Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Succeeded by	Bonfoh Abass (Acting)
Personal details
Born	(1966-06-06) 6 June 1966 Afagnan, Togo
Political party	Union for the Republic
Alma mater	Sorbonne George Washington University

Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé (born June 6, 1966^[1]) is a Togolese politician who has been the President of Togo since May 4, 2005. A son of President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, he was appointed to the government by his father, serving as Minister of Equipment, Mines, Posts, and Telecommunications from 2003 to 2005. When Eyadéma died on February 5, 2005, Gnassingbé was immediately installed as President with support from the army. Doubts regarding the constitutional legitimacy of the succession led to heavy regional pressure being placed on Gnassingbé, and he resigned on February 25. He then won a controversial presidential election on April 24, 2005, and was sworn in as President again.

Gnassingbé was re-elected for a second term as President of Togo in 2010.

Background

Born in Afagnan in Lacs Prefecture,^[1] Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé was one of Gnassingbé Eyadéma's many children; his mother was Séna Sabine Mensah.^[2] Gnassingbé received his secondary education in Lomé before studying in Paris at the Sorbonne, where he received a degree in financial business management;^[3] he subsequently obtained a Master of Business Administration degree from The George Washington University in the United States.^[3][4] He was elected to the National Assembly of Togo in the October 2002 parliamentary election as a Deputy for Blitta, and in the National Assembly he was coordinator of the commission in charge of privatization.^{[citation needed]} On July 29, 2003 he was appointed as Minister of Equipment, Mines, Posts, and Telecommunications,^[3][5][6] serving in that position until becoming President in February 2005.^[4]

Some in the opposition claimed that the amendment of the Constitution in December 2002, lowering the minimum age for the President from 45 years to 35 years, was intended to benefit Gnassingbé.^[3] His appointment to the government in July 2003 came after he had already been appearing with his father at official functions^[7] and contributed to speculation that he was intended as his father's successor.^[3][7]

Politics

Eyadéma died suddenly on February 5, 2005. According to the Togolese Constitution, after the President's death, the President of the National Assembly should become acting President. At the time of Eyadéma's death, National Assembly President Fambaré Ouattara Natchaba was out of the country, and Gnassingbé was sworn in as acting President to "ensure stability". Many believe that Natchaba did not want to come back to Togo due to fears of assassination by the Gnassingbé clan. The army wanted him to resign his position and allow Gnassingbé to legally take over. The African Union denounced Gnassingbé's assumption of power as a military coup.^{[citation needed]}

Legitimacy

A day after his father's death, the National Assembly received clear instructions to dismiss Natchaba and elect Gnassingbé in his place, which would legalize his succession; French law professor Charles Debbasch served as mastermind of the entire operation. Gnassingbé's election was unanimously approved by the deputies (98% of them were members of the ruling party) who were present in the National Assembly at the time; the opposition was not represented in the National Assembly due to its boycott of the 2002 parliamentary election. The members of Gnassingbé's party did not want to challenge the army's choice.^{[citation needed]} The parliament also eliminated a constitutional requirement that elections be held within 60 days of the president's death, enabling the younger Gnassingbé to rule until the expiration of his father's term in 2008.^[8]

Michelle Obama, Faure Gnassingbé and Barack Obama, 23 September 2009

Under pressure from others in the region, and particularly Nigeria, later in February 2005 Gnassingbé announced that new elections would be held within 60 days, but said that he would remain in office in the meantime. However, on February 21, the Togolese National Assembly reversed some of the constitutional changes that it had made so as to allow Gnassingbé to assume power, although it did not instruct him to resign. This was construed as a way of pressuring him to stand down with dignity. To change the constitution during a period of transition was itself an unconstitutional act, but this did not deter Gnassingbé's allies.^{[citation needed]}

On February 25, Gnassingbé was nominated by delegates of the ruling party, the Rally for the Togolese People, as the party's presidential candidate. He was also chosen as head of the party. Many still wonder how Gnassingbe was nominated since the convention was kept secret. Shortly afterwards, he announced that he would step down as President during the interim period. Bonfoh Abass was appointed by the National Assembly to replace him until the election on April 24, 2005. Bonfoh was considered by some to be a puppet of the military elite and the Gnassingbé family. Gnassingbé competed with the main opposition candidate, Emmanuel Bob-Akitani, a retired engineer of the state-owned mining company and the second most important person in the opposition coalition after Gilchrist Olympio. Olympio could not take part in the election, since the constitution requires that any candidate must have lived for at least 12 months in Togo, and Olympio had been in self-imposed exile for fear that he would be murdered by the Eyadema clan like his father.

In the election, Gnassingbé took slightly more than 60% of the votes according to official results. The RPT refused to allow oversight during the counting of the ballots. The EU and the Carter Center deemed the elections to be fraudulent. Mass protests by the coalition of opposition parties led to the killing of over 400 citizens by security forces.^[9] 40,000 refugees fled to neighboring Benin and Ghana, most of whom have since been repatriated despite concerns.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• History of Togo
• Politics of Togo

References

External links

• Official website
• Violent rioting, deaths follow disputed election in Togo, Wikinews
• Togo Elections on Tv

v t e Council of Ministers of Togo Gilbert Houngbo Kossi Messan Ewovor Katari Foli-Bazi Cornelius Aidam Gilbert Bawara Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe Eyadema Adji Otheth Ayassor Issifou Okoulou-Kantchati Messan Gnininvi Charles Kondi Agba Messan Adimado Aduayom Celestine Aidam Kokou Tozoun Octave Nicoue Broohm Noupokou Dammipi Kokouvi Dogbe Yves Mado Nagou Celestin Talaki Atcha Titikpina Mainounatou Ibrahima Pascal Bodjona Yendja Yentchabre Antoine Folly

v t e Heads of state of Togo Olympio Bodjollé Grunitzky Dadjo G. Eyadéma F. Gnassingbé Abass* F. Gnassingbé * interim