Togo president delays legislative elections by a week

Togo President Faure Gnassingbé (M) is received by President of Economic Community of West African States Commission (ECOWAS), Omar Touray (L) and Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Yussuf Tuggar (R) at the Nigerian presidential villa, during the extraordinary session of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government in Abuja, Nigeria on February 24, 2024. –  (Photo by Kola Sulaimon / AFP)

Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe on Saturday pushed back by a week the African country’s legislative and regional elections, which will now be held April 20.


The government had announced the initial April 13 date for the vote in early February, ending months of uncertainty.

The electoral campaigns will run from midnight on April 4 through the end of April 18.

Opposition parties boycotted the last legislative elections in 2018, citing “irregularities” in the electoral lists.

This time, the opposition is preparing to challenge the ruling Union for the Republic (UNIR) party, and organised a voter registration drive.

Gnassingbe came to power in 2005 after the death of his father General Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ran the country with an iron fist for 38 years. He has been re-elected three times in elections the opposition claimed were marred by irregularities.

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