Agbéyomé Kodjo in the running for the presidential election of February 2020

The next presidential elections in Togo will take place on February 22 and March 7, 2020. The electoral campaign will begin on February 6, 2020.

Among the declared candidates (about ten), there is the former Togolese Prime Minister Agbéyomé Messan Kodjo, invested in a tense context, last November 23 by his party, the Patriotic Movement for Democracy and Development (MPDD). Mr Kodjo awaits the sacred union of all the opposition to nominate a single candidate against the outgoing head of state Faure Gnassingbé in power since 2005.

President of the Togolese National Assembly and several times minister under the regime of General Gnassingbé Eyadèma who ruled Togo for 38 years, from April 1967 to his death in February 2005, he shows the qualities required to run Togo and enforce reforms such as the reorganization of the Togolese army in the context of a growing terrorist threat.

These presidential elections come at a time when the election process has been challenged by opposition parties and civil society organizations. On November 14, the government decided on an « exceptional review » of the electoral roll, between November 29 and December 1, to allow for a « more inclusive » presidential election in 2020. and a « credible election ».

Henceforth, since the revision in May 2019 of the Togolese Constitution, it will no longer be possible to run for more than 2 consecutive 5-year terms for the President of the Republic who will be elected by uninominal majority by two rounds and by an absolute majority of votes cast. However, this decision not being retroactive, the current head of state Faure Gnassingbé can still stand for 2 presidential elections from 2020 and lead the country until 2030 in case he wins them.

The vote of Togolese abroad was one of the main demands of the opposition gathered in the coalition of the fourteen (C14). Despite the abstention of the opposition from the center, in particular the « New Togolese Engagement » (NET) by Gerry Komandéga Taama and his ally of the Pan-African Democratic Party, the Togolese National Assembly including the UFC and the Unir au Power party, adopted in November 2019, the modification of the electoral law allowing Togolese in the diaspora to be able to vote.

Togolese in the diaspora will therefore be able to vote for the first time in the presidential elections of 2020 and then in the legislative elections. Registration on the lists is subject to the presentation of a passport, a consular card dating from at least six months in 21 embassies of Togo.

Other declared candidates include:

– Ekué Gamessou Kpodar, 60-year-old Togolese economist, former IMF executive, who wishes to bring his « GAMESSOU (it’s time) project to the basis of a 15-year-old ambition, he calls on the international community to support the country for transparent, credible and secure elections. He also asked for the guarantee of being able to return for all Togolese, including opponents Tikpi Atchadam, president of the Pan-African National Party (PNP) and Akila Esso Boko, and of being able to take part in political life. .

– Gerry Taama, member of the National Assembly and president of the New Togolese Commitment (Net) political party; already a candidate in 2015, he is running for the second time.

– Aubin Thon, young philosopher, returned from the United States. An independent candidate for the New Vision political movement, he says he is the man of change.

– Jean Etienne Fabre, former leader of the opposition, appointed by the National Alliance for Change (ANC), wishing to recreate trust between citizens, restore the credibility of the State and restore the people’s freedom and his dignity. President of the 2nd largest political party in Togo, he presents himself as the main challenger of the candidate of the ruling party. His wish is to restore « the rule of law, democracy and good governance » and above all « to achieve alternation ».

– Since 1967, the year in which General Gnassingbé Eyadéma came to power, father of the current head of state Faure Gnassingbé, no alternative has occurred, his son Faure Gnassingbé succeeding him after his disappearance in 2005 and 38 years of unrestricted reign; the latter ends his third term and seeks a fourth in spite of opposition challenges.

PORTRAIT OF AGBEYOME KODJO, Candidate for the next presidential election in Togo.

Appointed by the Togolese opposition sage committee led by the Archbishop of Lomé, Mgr Philippe Fanoko Kpodzro and certain declared candidates including Aimé Gogue, Pierre Ekue Gamesu Kpodar, Agbéyomé Kodjo, Soter Dovi, Komi Wolou or Jean-Pierre Favre… , Agbeyomé Kodjo has been the sole opposition candidate since December 31, 2019. However, Jean-Pierre Favre, a former opposition leader, is said to have rejected the idea of ​​a single candidate.

The leader of the Patriotic Movement for Democracy and Development (MPDD) will be the best politician representing the obtaining of alternation for the Togolese, facing the candidate of the ruling party, UNIR (Union for the Republic (Unir), in view positions he previously held (former President of the National Assembly, former Prime Minister, minister, etc.) and his knowledge of public management.

Since his nomination as official candidate of the opposition, the President of the defense and security commission at the National Assembly already announces that he will get in touch with the other forces of democracy with a view to obtaining the alternation in 2020. Its goal is to build with all those who have opted for the sole candidate of the opposition, a common program and define the strategy to lead to ensure victory for the Togolese people in 2020.

Agbéyomé Messan Kaodjo was born on October 12, 1954 in Tokpli (Prefecture of Yoto) in the South East of Togo, into a modest family.

In January 1983, he became a Doctor in Management Sciences of Organizations at the University of Poitiers, which led him to master the operation of General Administration and Public Enterprises. In 1985, he was appointed Commercial Director of SONACOM, then was called for the first time in December 1988 to the Government, where he held the position of Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture until 1991. He was then Minister of Interior and Security for 1 year) and is the father of the Basic Law of Togo following a referendum. He is also the investigator of the recovery of the Port of Lomé after the general strike in 1992.

In 1999, he was elected deputy by the populations of the 3rd Electoral District of Yoto then President of the National Assembly. where he undertook deep reforms as for the first time, the Youth Parliament whose consequences of his policy were a regular payment of salaries, scholarships and pensions as well as a reduction in public spending and the missions of state agents abroad. In August 2000, he was appointed Prime Minister and will be removed from office almost 2 years later.

He went into exile in France until 2005 when he returned to Togo where he was arrested for alleged embezzlement, sentenced and tortured. The same year, he founded with Dahuku Péré, a new party, the Democratic Alliance for the Fatherland. In 2008, he announced his candidacy for a new party, the Organization to Build in Togolese Solidarity Union (OBUTS), for the presidential election in 2010.
In 2015, he refused to accept the nomination for the presidential election of his political party, OBUTS, which would become MPDD in 2018.

In 2017, he led an electoral observation mission on behalf of the NGO Africa Solidarité in Equatorial Guinea and then in Mali in 2018 for the presidential elections.

Today, as a member of the National Assembly and President of the Africa group of the Francophone Business Forum, he is officially the opposition’s sole candidate for the presidential elections to be held in February and March 2020.

About The Author