Africa update: Togo
Election Sunday.
So for those who don't know much about Togo, here's some background (it's a little long but interesting). Togo is a small West African country bordering Ghana. It became independent of Britain in 1960. It's first president, Sylvanus Olympio, was assassinated in 1963 and a few years later Gnassingbe Eyadema took over in a bloodless coup, and held on to power with an authoritarian government for decades. Eyadema, who may have been involved in the Olympio assassination, ruled from 1967 until he died suddenly in February 2005 (yes, that is 38 years), by which time he had established himself as Africa's longest-serving ruler.

This is where it gets interesting. According to the constitution, the head of the national assembly, at the time a man named Fambare Ouattara Natchaba, was to be installed as interim president, with elections within 60 days for a new president. Natchaba was out of the country at the time of the death and the country's military sealed the borders, which prevented him from returning. The military then installed Eyadema's son, Faure Gnassingbe (who had been a minister in the government) as president, claiming they needed to act right away in order to keep order in the country. Once this was criticized as blatantly illegal, the Parliament (dominated by the president's party), hastily voted Gnassingbe as speaker, thus retroactively legalizing his installation as President. It was also decided that Gnassingbe would serve his father's full term instead of having elections in 60 days.

This did not go over well with the international community, especially the neighboring countries. Under pressure and sanctions from both the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Gnassingbe relented, agreeing to hold elections and then stepping down, installing Abass Bonfoh, vice president of the national assembly, as interim president (Natchaba continued to claim he should have been installed, but that did not happen). This was important because in the past the African political community was seen as an old boy's club that allowed dictators and coup leaders to operate unpunished, so the forcefulness by which African leaders pressed Togo's government to act according to its own principles gives hope that a blind eye will no longer when rulers victimize their countries and people.

There has been some violence between supporters of the government and opposition candidates in the run up to the election, scheduled for April 24, with a few deaths reported, though it is unclear if all of the claims are legitimate. as the government wants to paint a bad pictures of the opposition, and the opposition is arguing that the elections have been arranged to hastily to give them a fair shot at organizing a campaign. Gnassingbe is running as the ruling party's candidate after having stepped down as president. The main opposition candidate is Emmanuel Bob-Akitani. The real leader of the opposition, however, is Gilchrist Olympio, son of the slain first president. Mr. Olympio has been living in exile after an assassination attempt against him in 1992. He is not allowed to run for president because he does not live in the country, which is why his deputy is running in his place. Mr. Olympio is currently back in the country campaigning, however.

The election is scheduled for Sunday, April 24-will keep you updated.