Polls close in Togo presidential vote

Polls closed in Togo’s presidential election on Saturday, with the incumbent Faure Gnassingbe widely expected to secure a third term in office to extend his family’s five-decade grip on power.

Voting ended at roughly 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) following an election day that saw low turnout across the tiny west African nation, where more than 3.5 million people were registered to cast ballots.

Counting began immediately at polling stations in the capital Lome, AFP journalists said, with Gnassingbe likely to defeat his only serious challenger, Jean-Pierre Fabre who heads a five party opposition coalition.

Gnassingbe said initial results could start coming in later Saturday from the country’s 8,994 polling stations.

The CNSC coalition of civil society groups, which deployed observers across the country, described turnout as “very weak”, which experts agreed is likely to hurt Fabre.