President Faure Gnassingbe is looking to continue his
family's 48-year rule of Togo in elections held on Saturday. Turnout was low, close
to 40 percent, according to local election observers. Faure Gnassingbe, 48, has
been in power since his father Gnassingbe Eyadema died in office in 2005 after
ruling Togo with an iron fist for 38 years. The election is a two-horse race
between Faure Gnassingbe and Jean-Pierre Fabre who unsuccessfully stood against
Faure Gnassingbe in 2010. Last year, opposition protests failed to bring about
constitutional changes limiting the president to two terms in office - a move
that would have prevented Mr Gnassingbe from standing.
Togo's GDP has more than doubled since 2005 and economic
growth reached 5.6% in 2014. But critics say the benefits have mainly gone to a
wealthy minority, while most ordinary Togolese still suffer from high poverty
and unemployment rates. 2011 statistics show 58% of the population lived on
less than a dollar a day, and while official figures put the jobless rate at
6%, many believe the actual figure is much higher. Unemployment
disproportionately affects the young, who make up a rapidly growing percentage
of Togo's population.
"I have lived nearly my whole life with this regime.
The regime has to go," said Ama Yambila, a mother of seven.
"There is no work!" said 55-year-old Martin
Assouvi, a Fabre supporter. "We are suffering."
Tsomana Yovo Aki, a 57-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, said
he was voting for an opposition candidate, though he declined to specify which
one. He said he was worried about the high cost of living and poor public
services, especially in the country's hospitals. "We need a change at the
head of the government so that another can come to power and show us his style
of governing," Aki said.
Togo is the most unhappy country in the world, closely
followed by Burundi, Benin and Rwanda, a study finds.
No comments:
Post a Comment