In an introductory statement, Togolese civil society organizations launch a final appeal to the political parties of the democratic opposition, and encourage them to demonstrate realism, patriotism, and with a burst of pride, to consult quickly to avoid competing positions and lists in future elections.
JOINT DECLARATION OF TOGOLESE CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS
Paris – Lomé, February 20, 2024
TOGO – ULTIMATE AND PATRIOTIC APPEAL FROM CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS TO THE POPULATIONS, THE DEMOCRATIC OPPOSITION AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY RELATING TO THE UPCOMING ELECTORAL CONSULTATIONS.
CONTEXTE NATIONAL
The socio-political context of Togo is currently marked by a latent, even palpable, tension within the populations and essential components of the nation following autism and the contempt that the Head of State and his collaborators have shown towards towards the multiple social, economic and political demands made by these populations, the actors of civil society and the political parties of the democratic opposition.
Monopolization, misdeeds, deviations, excesses and abuse of power in all its forms have sold off the rest of the achievements of democracy, the rule of law and Human Rights in Togo. Thus, the Constitution has been stripped of all its sustenance and political alternation at the top of the State is put to the test and almost unrealizable. The democratization process begun in the hard-fought 1990s remains unfinished.
Instead, it is the cult of personality which makes the head of state an incontestable guru, reducing the size of the state to a level of unparalleled baseness of esoteric networks where the fate of the Togolese people is decided in the lounges between friends and friends. The consequences are obvious: the catastrophic and disastrous management of public funds, the insolent enrichment with a sultanesque lifestyle of leaders and their families, trivialized corruption, political and economic impunity established as a rule.
Opposite, poverty-stricken populations, bled by inflation; abandoned youth who vegetate in unemployment and debauchery; a very derisory purchasing power of civil servants and populations, in short a blatant, abysmal and unacceptable social injustice. In addition to this, the Security Forces and the judicial system are used to prevent the exercise of fundamental freedoms, in particular freedom of association, assembly and public demonstration. Only the ruling party organizes public meetings and demonstrations with state resources, while the opposition and civil society face systematic bans and repression.
2. ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION
Faced with this situation, the Head of State and his collaborators refused the path of reason and opted for force in order to discourage the people, the opposition and civil society who wanted a peaceful and lasting solution which should go through: the release of all political prisoners, the return of all political exiles, the holding of national meetings for the refoundation before the organization of any election.
In view of the constant refusal of the Head of State and his collaborators for a solution to appeasement, it is clearly established that they are in the logic of conserving power in order to continue to amass the wealth of the country for themselves alone and nothing for the people.
The contempt they displayed towards the constitutional law with all that followed, in particular the unilateral modification of electoral laws, the unilateral modification of the number of deputies and the eligibility conditions, the maintenance of a CENI in its illegal and illegitimate configuration, the establishment of an unfair electoral division and an incomplete and contested electoral register, the fixing of the amount of security in a spirit of exclusion, the organization of legislative elections and regional by a government devoid of any legitimacy due to the end of the mandate of deputies since December 31, 2023, without forgetting the impunity vis-à-vis the perpetrators of embezzlement of public funds, is proof that “Togo deserves better than that”, as a former minister admitted.
And all these maneuvers are developed with the sole logic of discouraging citizens in order to distance them further from the management of public affairs, allowing the proponent of the rpt/unit regime to loot more.
3. SOLUTION APPROACH CALL FOR AWAKENING AND GENERAL MOBILIZATION
In view of the context and analysis, Civil Society, after careful reflection, invites each citizen to abandon any feeling of discouragement to arm themselves with hope, courage and determination to face with serenity in the next electoral consultations.
Civil society is truly drawing the attention of the Togolese population so that they understand that the next electoral consultations, even if they started on illegal and illegitimate bases, have a lot at stake and are decisive for the future of the country. We will have to really take action to wrest the management of the country from hands that are harmful to its development.
It calls for general mobilization behind the participating opposition and to massively sanction the liberticidal and prevaricatory regime at the ballot box.
There is no longer any question of boycotting or encouraging the boycott of the next elections, because whatever the degree of dissuasion of the ruling party, nothing is a foregone conclusion.
The story of David and Goliath should inspire us. Despite all of Goliath’s dissuasive weapons, despite his impressive form, despite his methods of intimidation, little David brought him down with the power of faith through a weapon as rudimentary as a slingshot.
ULTIMATE AND PATRIOTIC APPEAL TO DEMOCRATIC OPPOSITION
Considering the very nature of the vote [scrutin de liste bloquée à la représentation proportionnelle]civil society launches a final appeal to the political parties of the democratic opposition and encourages them to demonstrate realism, patriotism, and with a burst of pride, to consult quickly to avoid competing positions and lists, to pool their forces, in order to reduce financial costs on the one hand and to avoid the fragmentation of the voices of the democratic forces in struggle on the other hand.
CALL FOR VIGILANCE AND WATCH
To do this, CSOs are asking outraged populations to organize in their respective localities to record, protect and secure the results from each polling station after the count. This will make it possible to circumvent the massive fraud which takes place after the polling stations. As a reminder, if the authorities had refused to “recount the results polling station by polling station” in February 2020 following the request of the American Department of State, it was because it knew that the results reached the CENI were very different from the real results from the different polling stations. Based on all these aspects, Civil Society invites the opposition to participate in raising awareness among the populations with a view to decisively defending the results from their respective polling stations, keeping an eye on things, and even reacting valiantly against any form of fraud until the end of the counting and to guard these results jealously for the purposes of confrontation in the event of fraud by illegal and illegitimate members of the CENI.
For the non-participating opposition, civil society invites it to work to raise awareness among the populations with a view to active participation in these elections towards an objective vision.
CALL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY (ECOWAS, AU, EU, UN AND G5) FOR SUPPORT
Civil society finally implores the international community, notably ECOWAS, the African Union, the UN, the European Union, the USA, Germany, France, to work for the protection of civilian populations in the exercise of freedoms of expression, their right to take part or participate in the management of public affairs and for the transparency of the next legislative and regional elections in Togo.
For Organizations,
M. Daguerre K. AGBEMADOKPONOU (MAYOR)
M. Monzolouwè BE ATCHOLI AS (ASVITTO)
M. Chris Yayra AGOBIA (CODE TOGO)
M. Christophe Komlan TETE (GAGL)
Mr. Bassirou Traore (GCD)
M. Koffi DANTSEY (GLOB)
M. Poro EGBOHOU (FDP)
Dr Emmanuel H. SOGADJI (LCT)
Me Célestin Kokouvi G. AGBOGAN (LTDH)
Me Raphaël N. KPANDE-ADZARE (MCM)
M. Issaou SATCHIBOU (MJS)
M. Bertin BANDIANGOU (SEET)
