Togo
Country in W Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean, bounded N by Burkina Faso,
E by Benin, and W by Ghana.
Government
The 1992 constitution provides for a president, elected by universal
suffrage for a five-year term, and an 81-member national assembly, elected
by a second-ballot majoritarian system for a similar term. The president
appoints the prime minister on the basis of assembly support. Other
ministers are chosen by the president and prime minister jointly.
History
Called Togoland, the country was a German protectorate 1885-1914, when
it was captured by Anglo- French forces. It was divided between Britain
and France 1922 under a League of Nations mandate and continued under
United Nations trusteeship from 1946. In 1956 British Togoland voted
for integration with Ghana, where it became Volta region 1957.
Independence
French Togoland voted to become an autonomous republic within the French
union. The new Togolese republic achieved internal self- government
1956 and full independence 1960. Sylvanus Olympio, leader of the United
Togolese party, became president in an unopposed election April 1961.
In 1963 Olympio was killed in a military coup and his brother-in-law
Nicolas Grunitzky, who had gone into exile, was recalled to become president.
Gradual Democratization
In 1967 Grunitzky was, in turn, deposed in a bloodless military coup,
led by Lt-Gen Etienne Gnassingbé Eyadéma. The new constitution was suspended
and Eyadéma assumed the presidency, banning all political activity.
Six years later he founded a new party, the socialist, nationalist Assembly
of the Togolese People (RPT), and declared it the only legal political
organization. Between 1967 and 1986 there were several attempts to overthrow
him. In 1991, in response to pressure from demonstrators, Eyadéma announced
the introduction of a multiparty system. In April he legalized opposition
parties and freed political prisoners. In a prodemocracy conference
in August, Eyadéma's presidential power was substantially reduced and
an interim government was formed, headed by premier Joseph Kokou Koffigoh.
Between Oct and Nov 1991, three attempts by Eyadéma's troops to oust
the interim government failed.
However, in Aug 1992 the Koffigoh administration agreed to return
to President Eyadéma much of the power they had taken away in 1991.
In a referendum Sept 1992 there was overwhelming support for a multiparty
political system and a draft constitution was approved. President Eyadéma
won the country's first multiparty elections held Aug 1993, amid opposition
allegations of ballot- rigging. In Jan 1994 a further attempt to oust
him was foiled. A coalition of two opposition groups, the Action Committee
for a Renewal (CAR) and the Togolese Union for Democracy (UTD), won
a majority in the March 1994 assembly elections, with CAR winning the
largest number of seats. President Eyadéma disputed the result, refusing
to nominate the CAR candidate as prime minister and preferring Edem
Kodjo of the UTD instead. CAR rejected Kodjo's appointment and led a
boycott of the national assembly until Aug 1995.
After a disagreement with the president Aug 1996, Kodjo resigned from
the premiership and was replaced by Kwasi Klutse.
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