15,000 Rally in Togo to End Family's Rule
By LYDIA POLGREEN
Published: February 20, 2005
LOMÉ, Togo, Feb. 19 - With thundering drumbeats and chants of "Togo
must be free," about 15,000 protesters streamed into the streets of
this seaside capital on Saturday to express their anger at the
military's installation of the son of the nation's longtime ruler
as president.
A speech on Friday night by the new president, Faure Gnassingbé,
was aimed at ending the two-week-old crisis by promising elections
within 60 days to replace his father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who died
of a heart attack on Feb. 5. But the announcement failed to quell
demands that Mr. Gnassingbé step down.
If anything, it appeared to help opposition parties draw a crowd
far larger than those of earlier demonstrations, a river of people
that swelled as hesitant bystanders joined the throng that
eventually rallied at a square near the center of town.
"We are tired of this dictatorial regime," shouted Geraldine Nie,
42 and unemployed, as she held a tree branch aloft and marched on
the city's main boulevard. "We are no longer afraid. It is either
life or death, and what we have now is worse than death."
Mr. Gnassingbé's announcement of elections apparently did not
satisfy foreign critics either. Ecowas, a regional economic group
that tried to persuade the new president to return to
constitutional rule, said it would impose sanctions on Togo, said
Remi Oyo, spokeswoman for Olusegun Obasanjo, the president of
Nigeria. Later, Ecowas said in a statement it was suspending Togo
from participating in the bloc's activities, imposing a travel ban
on its leaders, recalling its ambassadors and decreeing an arms
embargo, Reuters reported. Richard Boucher, a spokesman for the
United States State Department, said Washington backed the
decision.
President Obasanjo, who is currently the leader of the African
Union, told a Togolese delegation visiting Nigeria that he would
not endorse Togo's decision to leave Mr. Gnassingbé as president
until elections, Ms. Oyo said in a telephone interview. "Clearly
they are not meeting the requirements of the Constitution," she
said. "The indications are that he will be a candidate in the
elections that he will preside over himself, which is
unacceptable."
That announcement increased the considerable international pressure
already mounting on Togo, a tiny impoverished nation on the Gulf of
Guinea that Mr. Eyadéma ruled for nearly 40 years. A delegation
from Ecowas met with Mr. Gnassingbé last week, and on Thursday he
flew to meet with Mr. Obasanjo, who told him he must return Togo to
constitutional rule. Leaders around the world condemned Togo's move
to install the son of the former leader.
"The world must listen well to what the people of Togo have said
today," said Jean-Pierre Fabre, secretary general of United Forces
for Change, one of the opposition parties that organized the march
here. "We reject this so-called president, and so should they." The
government also held a rally, which drew about 7,500 people, and
Mr. Gnassingbé addressed them, calling for calm. "We have to remain
determined but dignified," he said. "Because 60 days is a very
short time. I am sure that at the end there will be good things for
the Togolese people."
Demonstrators leveled much of their anger at France, which
colonized Togo, and its president, Jacques Chirac, who was close to
Mr. Eyadéma. Mr. Chirac has condemned the transfer of power to Mr.
Eyadéma's son, but the legacy of decades of French support for the
man who would become Africa's longest serving ruler was on
display.
"Mr. Chirac, you have French people in Togo. Be careful," was the
ominous warning of one banner.
After 38 years of rule by an authoritarian government that only
recently began making concessions to democracy, the joy of dissent
was palpable here on Saturday. Drums throbbed and people sang and
danced through the streets. Those who had signs held them aloft;
those who did not tore branches off nearby trees and waved them
high.
"We have courage to protest now," said Dominique Zotoglo as he
joined the crowd. "Togo is not the property of one family. It
belongs to us."
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They should be saluted for their bravery and courage to risk their
lives for their children's future.38th anniversary of family
rule.What a sorry state of affairs..
