TOGO

Supporters of Togo’s ruling-party presidential candidate, Faure Gnassingbe, gathered on Tuesday under tight security ahead of official results expected to confirm he will succeed his father as president of the West African state. Meanwhile, panicked Togolese continued to flood the border zones.

Police in Togo on Friday used teargas to break up a demonstration by thousands of members of the opposition on the first day of an election campaign in the small west African country. Clashes broke out in central Lome when members mainly of the opposition Union of Forces for Change marched on the city hall to demand voters’ cards.

West African leaders said on Tuesday they have appointed a regional observer to help reconcile Togo’s polarised political parties ahead of presidential elections in April to choose a successor to long-time autocrat Gnassingbe Eyadema. The appointment of the observer is one in a series of proposals to accompany the Togo electoral process.

Togo’s new leader, Abass Bonfoh, made interim head of state during the night by Parliament, on Saturday promised ”free and open elections” within 60 days, to end a political crisis that has seen the country isolated internationally. He was speaking the day after army-installed ruler Faure Gnassingbe stood down, pledging an election.

President Faure Gnassingbe, facing mounting international pressure since the Togo’s military installed him as leader three weeks ago, has announced he is stepping down and will seek the presidency in April elections. Gnassingbe resigned late on Friday, just hours after accepting his party’s nomination for the presidential bid.

Army-installed Togo President Faure Gnassingbe on Sunday brushed aside international condemnation of his rule and praised the actions of his police force during riots that left at least three protesters dead. Opposition leaders asked for a day of calm so the country’s faithful could attend church.

A ”stay-home” protest by Togo’s opposition to oppose the hasty swearing-in of President Faure Gnassingbe was on Tuesday gathering support from a population cowed by the repressive 38 years of rule of his late father, Gnassingbe Eyadema. Meanwhile, the African Union’s Peace and Security Council has signalled ”its determination to impose sanctions”.

Togo’s Constitutional Court swore in 39-year-old Faure Gnassingbe as this tiny West African nation’s new president on Monday, despite volleys of international condemnation after the military installed him as his late father’s successor. The six-member court conducted the ceremony at the presidential palace.

A celebration at the gates of Togo President Gnassingbe Eyadema’s palace turned into a stampede on Saturday, killing at least 13 people as excited crowds tried to surge on to palace grounds. A government statement confirmed the 13 deaths. Officials warned the toll could climb, as hospitals treated scores of other victims.

Four people were killed and eight injured, of whom three are in criticial condition, when a crowd stampeded following a power cut after Sunday’s Soccer World Cup African zone Group 1 qualifying game between Togo and Mali in Lome, officials confirmed on Monday.

West African mediators say they will investigate the reported killing of 120 people in an Ivory Coast village after rebels blamed government forces for the slaughter and threatened to pull out of stalled negotiations to end their nearly three-month uprising.