The Dynastic Succession in Togo

The presidential poll that took place in Togo on 24 April 2005 was certainly not a model of transparency. On the contrary, it consecrated a dynastic succession and deepened the societal divide in a country that has suffered 38 years of autocratic rule. The role played by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) in Togo has raised a series of questions which suggest the limitations of a wholly African management system for governments in peril. The poorly prepared monitoring of the elections in Togo by ECOWAS and its assessment of the poll as generally free and fair have somewhat undermined its credibility. Yet in other instances, most notably in conflict management, the organisation has proved its ability to intervene in a constructive way. In another sense, one could argue that an opportunity has been lost: since Togo is a small country, with limited strategic importance, the regional and sub-regional organisations could have made it an example of their determination to solve the kind of political crisis into which Togo was plunged. Similar situations might occur elsewhere in the continent in the future.