Togo Holds
Presidential Election
Yejide Atobatele, Lome
Polls
opened in presidential elections in Togo on Thursday, with
millions of voters casting their ballot to elect a new
president.
Togo's incumbent President Faure Gnassingbe is seeking
re-election, facing six opposition candidates.
Voice of Nigeria correspondent reports that an estimated 3.2
million people are registered to vote, out of a population of
six million.
More 3,000 national observers, 130 from the
European Union, 40 from the African Union and 250
from the ECOWAS are monitoring the polls.
The authorities have deployed 6,000 officers on the
ground to ensure security during the elections. Togo closed its
land frontier at midnight on Wednesday till midnight Friday,
while its air space and maritime border remain open.
The candidates
Faure is seeking his second term since elected in 2005,
with the strong support from the ruling Assembly of Togolese
People (RPT) and allies including the opposition renegades.
The six other candidates in the race are: Jean-Pierre Fabre of
the Republican Front for Change (FRAC), Yawovi Agboyibo of the
Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), Agbeyome Kodjo of the
Organisation to Build Togo in Unity and Solidarity (OBUTS).
Others are: Kafui Adjamgbo-Johnson of the Democratic Convention
for African People (CDPA), Lawson Nicolas of the Renewal and
Redemption Party (PRR) and Kagbara Bassabi of the Pan African
Democratic Party (PDP).
CDPA candidate Adjamagbo-Johnson is the country's first female
contender in the race, counting on the support of women who make
up 52 per cent of the Togolese population.
Away from bitter past
The country had vowed to avoid a repetition of violence in
the polls held on April 24, 2005, following the death of
President Gnassingbe Eyadema, Faure's father, who ruled Togo for
38 years.
A report of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said 400
to 500 people were killed and thousands of others injured
during the violence.
The Togolese government said in its own report that 154
people died and 654 others were injured.
The violence also forced an estimated 40,000 Togolese
refugees to flee to neighbouring Benin and Ghana.
With additional report from NAN/Yinka
