Togo Objects to Gnassingbé’s Power Consolidation in Violent Protest

Violent clashes erupted on Thursday, June 26, across several neighborhoods of Lomé as demonstrators took to the streets in defiance of a controversial constitutional amendment that entrenches President Faure Gnassingbé’s grip on power.

Protesters, led largely by youth and backed by the “Hands Off My Constitution” coalition, confronted heavily armed security forces in a tense standoff that saw barricades of burning tires, tear gas, and arrests. Military jeeps patrolled Lomé’s streets while businesses shuttered, and police detained at least ten demonstrators in the opposition stronghold of Bè.

The unrest follows the government’s introduction of a new political structure in June that effectively removes presidential term limits. Gnassingbé, who has been in power since 2005 following the death of his father Eyadéma Gnassingbé, who ruled for 38 years, was in May sworn in as President of the Council of Ministers, a powerful role without official term limits and renewable indefinitely by parliament.

Opposition leaders, including the National Alliance for Change (ANC) and Democratic Forces for the Republic (FDR), have denounced the development as a “constitutional coup” and demanded Gnassingbé relinquish power. “He must return power to the Togolese people to whom national sovereignty belongs,” the parties said in a joint statement.

Demonstrations are rare in Togo, where public gatherings have been banned since 2022 following a deadly market attack. Yet civil society groups and social media activists have called for renewed protests on June 26, 27, and 28, pressing for the release of political detainees and economic relief.

The government has responded with a heavy-handed clampdown. Over 80 people were arrested earlier this month during initial rallies. Activists accuse security forces of mistreatment, and press freedoms have come under attack. French broadcasters RFI and France 24 were suspended for three months, while a TV5 journalist was briefly detained and had her footage deleted.

The backdrop to the crisis is decades of dynastic rule and political suppression. Togo has been a republic since its independence from France in 1960, but has endured a series of coups and contested elections. Protests over the Gnassingbé family’s long rule have repeatedly turned deadly, notably, in 2005 and 2017, and most recently in 2024, when two people were killed.

Now, with a youth-led movement rising and democratic institutions under strain, Togo finds itself once again at a crossroads, amid growing fears that a fragile region already plagued by coups may witness yet another democracy in decline.