Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lome (Agenzia Fides)- “The army must step to one side, it must no longer be the main factor in political life in Togo” a local source told Fides with regard to the present situation in this African country, in a serious political crisis after the death of President Gnassingbé Eyadéma and pending elections for the president scheduled for 24 April. The principal candidate is the late President’s son Faure Eyadéma, installed by the army as head of state after Parliament made hurried changes in the constitution and dismissed its speaker Famabré Natchaba, who should have become interim head of state. Because of international pressure Faure Eyadéma resigned and elections were called.
“The son of the late President is only part of the problem: the world should realise that Togo since 1963 has been governed by its army. The military are in power. They run the economy with an officer as director of all the main public enterprises” the source said. “People have had enough, they want democracy. The country is in the grip of totalitarian control a model of communism. Even telephones are under control. Thousands of oppositions members abroad are controlled by well paid informers who pretend to be dissidents, particularly Togolese in France, Belgium, Germany and Canada. The model is fashioned on North Korea which built Lome University, the school for cadres of the President’s Party”.
“The army has 13 men for a population of 4 to 5 million. The regime spends the country’s little resources to guarantee security ” the source said.
“People are not protected. The military can kill in all impunity and there have been several cases of people who have disappeared” the source recalled. “Although the country is under the control of the army Togo is a centre for illegal trafficking. For example drugs: cocaine from South America is distributed in Togo to neighbouring countries and sent to North America, Europe and even Asia. At the regional level there is the scourge of trafficking in children. These criminals convinced poor parents that their children will be taught a trade, or given a job in a shop or a bar. Instead the children are sent to work in coffee plantations in Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria, where they are sold as slaves. The receive no pay and hardly enough food to live on. Many girls are forced into prostitution particularly in Gabon. Everyone knows that in Lome there are two markets where girls to be used as prostitutes are sold and bought”.
At the social level Togo would appear not to suffer from ethnic tension . “Although Eyadema and all the officers of the army are Kabré, relations with the rest of the people are good and there are no tribal or ethnic tensions. There are Kabré not in favour of the regime” the source recalled.
Good relations between Christians can help improve social relations the source told Fides: “Catholics, Methodists and Presbyterians collaborate in various fields. However sects with substantial funding are attracting an increasing number of followers. However many people lured away by promises and attractive message return to their original Church because they feel deceived”. “Muslims are investing in Togo: mosques are springing up everywhere, even where there is no Muslim community.(L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 18/3/2005 righe 47 parole 633)
