The presidential election held in Togo last week seems full of discrepancies. The results were announced yesterday amid speculation that some of the voting boxes had been tampered with by the ruling party, Rally of the Togolese People (RPT).
Late last week, the opposition party – the Union of Forces for Change (UFC) – claimed an early victory stating that their candidate, Jean-Pierre Fabre, had won 75 to 80 percent of the votes. However, President Faure Gnassingbe’ and his ruling party dismissed the claim as “unacceptable” according to the AFP news agency.
International observers to the election including the European Union have voiced concern over the lack of transparency. According to a BBC West African correspondent, it is believed that the counting of votes was correct. However, when the results were transmitted to local offices of the national electoral commission, the necessary detail was lacking. It was recommended that the local election office publish the individual results rather than only the accumulated results. Since there was no transparency on this level it makes the whole voting process questionable.
The country of Togo hasn’t had the greatest history in its leadership and has had their fair share of corruption and election tampering.
Faure Gnassingbe’s late father Gnassingbe’ Eyadema was the longest-serving leader in Africa (1967-2005) until his untimely death in 2005. The elder was known to be a corrupt dictator who often tortured those against him.
