The father was Africa's longest-reigning dictator, ordered his enemies executed, and claimed to be chosen by God.
Now the son is running for president of Togo in a weekend vote already shadowed by violence, with protesters threatening to die fighting if the family of the late dictator Gnassingbe Eyadema maintains its stranglehold on this tiny, impoverished west African country. As tension mounts, Togolese were praying for peace and hoping for democracy.
Togo's interim head of state on Friday vowed the elections will go ahead, and fired a minister who had called for the ballot to be canceled because of fears of bloodshed.
PHOTO: EPA
Some 2.2 million people in this nation of 5 million are registered to vote during the 6am to 6pm polling taking place today. Counting was to start immediately, but it was unclear when results would be announced.
The front-runner is Faure Gnassingbe, whose strongman father Gnassingbe Eyadema ruled for 38 years -- longer than any other leader except Fidel Castro.
Eyadema died of a heart attack Feb. 5, ending an oppressive era in which political foes were routinely tortured and killed, dissent was crushed by jackboot security forces and spies prowled the dust-blown boulevards and halls of university campuses.
Togo's military thrust Gnassingbe to power shortly after Eyadema's death, prompting such local and international outrage he stepped down and promised elections in 60 days, as stipulated by the Constitution.
Gnassingbe's three rivals in the race -- Bob Akitani, Harry Olympio and Nicolas Lawson, all longtime opposition members -- have called for the elections to be postponed, charging irregularities in voter registration and exclusion from the electoral process. Their concerns, though, have not prompted them to withdraw.
In the run-up to the vote, riot police have been accused of killing several anti-regime demonstrators. The government recently banned all private TV and radio stations from covering the elections.
On Friday, as questions over whether the vote could go ahead raised tensions, opposition protesters appeared on the streets, wielding machetes and nail-studded clubs.
Gnassingbe is backed by the military and has his father's political machine at his disposal. And as a candidate, his style seems to mimic that of his father, who kept his pinky fingernail aristocratically long and wore expensive suits and gold-rimmed sunglasses.
Gnassingbe -- a businessman educated at George Washington University in the US -- prefers tailored suits and expensive shoes. He buzzed between rallies in a rented white helicopter, unlike his main rival, the 75-year old Akitani, who campaigned in tropical shirts and traversed the country in a four-wheel drive.
Despite the echoes of his father, Gnassingbe presents himself to voters as a modern technocrat, with the youthful energy and fresh ideas it takes to bring reform in a nation where the average annual income is US$270, making it among the poorest in Africa.
"I am the new image of Togolese youth, the new image of Togo," 39-year old Gnassingbe said on a recent campaign stop in the southern town of Keve.
"I'm going to take this country to the next level," he declares. "More freedom, more democracy. It's the only way we can solve our problems."
For Gnassingbe to be taken seriously abroad, he has to escape his father's tall, ominous shadow. But at home, some observers say, Gnassingbe has a real shot at winning the vote if elections are fair.
Even some in the opposition have said Akitani, the main opponent, is too old to lead Togo into a the future.
Gnassingbe has been treated almost like a deity as he campaigned in Togo's forested interior. Speakers line up to praise him as a "unifier" and village elders in gilded crowns bow to him.
"Demonstrations and violence will not give us solutions," said Fousse Blaise, 40, after listening to Gnassingbe promise hospitals, a new town market and a peaceful election day at one rally. "We need jobs and peace, and Faure is the one promising this change.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS