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Kinyarwanda
Togo Opposition Demands Return to Old Constitution
Hundreds of opposition supporters rallied in the Togolese town of Vogan on Saturday, July 25 demanding the restoration of the country’s previous constitution and denouncing a 2024 reform that transferred executive power to a newly created parliamentary leadership position.
The rally opened with a traditional libation ceremony before opposition leaders joined supporters in singing Togo’s national anthem.
Protesters displayed banners and placards rejecting the constitutional changes.
The 2024 reform replaced Togo’s presidential system with a parliamentary model, giving executive authority to the President of the Council of Ministers — a position currently held by former President Faure Gnassingbé.
Africa News reported that David Dosseh, spokesperson for the civil society group Front Citoyen Togo Debout, described the constitutional changes as illegitimate.
“The constitutional change that took place in Togo in 2024 is completely illegal; it is a constitutional coup d’état,” Dosseh said.
“The Togolese people will never accept this outrage.”
The protest came after the ECOWAS Court of Justice ruled last month that the constitutional reform violated the country’s democratic principles, describing it as an “unconstitutional change of government.”
Gnassingbé has ruled Togo since 2005. Under the new constitution, he can be re-elected indefinitely by Parliament, while the presidency has been reduced largely to a ceremonial role limited to a single six-year term.
