Togo civilians had planned a three-day protest over the new legislation scrapping presidential elections and the arrest of opposition figures to start on April 11th. However, Togo’s government released a statement claiming that the planned protest was illegal and that it would “seriously disturb public order”. Togo’s government has also made the decision to delay parliamentary elections another week, pushing the elections back until April 29th. The planned protesters are considering whether to ignore the government’s warning and proceed with the rally. The protesters are against the proposed constitution which would get rid of direct elections, making it so only parliament has the power to choose the president. Togo’s government has arrested nine opposition activists so far and claims that the government’s response to the opposition protests will be “firm, forceful, and heavy-handed” according to Aimé Adi, the current leader of the Togo branch of Amnesty International.
The cancellation of protests against the new constitution in Togo is important because Togo has a history of deadly protests. The last two protests were in 2005 and 2017, both of which ended with hundreds of deaths. I think that there will be further protests and that the government’s ban won’t have enough of an effect to stop them from occurring. There may also be division in the region because Togo has been ruled by the same family for 60 years and the civilians may not accept the forced new leadership as willingly. I think that President Faure Gnassingbe is proposing this new constitution because according to the new constitution, Gnassingbe would be able to remain in power.
The situation in Togo connects to class because there’s a conflict of ideas. The current government believes that Togo should have leaders chosen by the parliament while other groups believe that Togo should continue with the democracy that it currently has where citizens can vote in an election on possible leaders. Togo is geopolitically important because it’s used as a trade hub in West Africa. A spread of protests in Togo could lead to further violence and ultimately spread to a regional conflict if other regions choose to become involved.