President of the Togolese Republic | |
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Président de la République togolaise | |
![]() Presidential Standard | |
Type | Head of state |
Residence | New Presidential Palace, Lomé |
Term length | 5 years, renewable once. |
Formation | 27 April 1960 |
First holder | Sylvanus Olympio |
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This is a list of presidents of Togo since the formation of the post of president in 1960, to the present day.
A total of four people have served as president (not counting one acting president and two interim military officeholders). Additionally, one person, Faure Gnassingbé, has served on two non-consecutive occasions.
Gnassingbé is the incumbent president, since 4 May 2005.
The president of the Republic is elected by universal, direct and secret suffrage for a mandate of five (05) years. [1]
He is re-eligible. [1] As of 2021, there is a two-term limit for the president in the Constitution of Togo which was reinstated in 2019. This limit has been lifted for Gnassingbé Eyadéma in 2002 and for Faure Gnassingbé in 2019. [2]
The election of the president of the Republic takes place by uninominal majority ballot in one (01) round. [3]
The president of the Republic is elected with the majority of the suffrage expressed. [3]
The vote is opened on convocation of the electoral body by decree taken in the Council of Ministers sixty (60) days at least and seventy-five (75) days at most before the expiration of the mandate of the president in office. [4]
No one may be a candidate for the office of the president of the Republic if they: [5]
The president of the Republic enters office within the fifteen days which follow the proclamation of the results of the presidential election. [6]
Before his entry into office, the president of the Republic swears before the Constitutional Court meeting in solemn hearing, in these terms: [7]
Before God and before the Togolese people, sole holders of popular sovereignty, We _____, elected President of the Republic in accordance with the laws of the Republic, solemnly swear.
— to respect and to defend the Constitution that the Togolese people have freely given themselves;
— to loyally fulfill the high functions that the Nation has confided in us.
— to be guided solely by the general interest and the respect of the rights of the human person, to consecrate all our forces to the promotion of development, of the common good, of peace and of national unity;
— to preserve the integrity of the national territory;
— to conduct our self at all times, as a faithful and loyal servant of the People.
In case of a vacancy of the presidency of the Republic by death, resignation or definitive incapacity, the presidential function is exercised provisionally by the president of the National Assembly. [8]
The vacancy is declared by the Constitutional Court referred to [the matter] by the Government. [8]
The Government convokes the electoral body within the sixty (60) days of the opening of the vacancy for the election of a new president of the Republic. [8]
After independence, the President of Togo used the Palace of the Governors as an office and residence. The Palace was formerly used by both German and French colonial administrators. In 1970, President Gnassingbé Eyadéma moved in a new Presidential Palace built near the Palace of the Governors. Another residence used by the Gnassingbé Eyadéma was the Presidential Residence of Lomé II. In 2006, a new Presidential Palace, financed by China, was inaugurated by President Faure Gnassingbé on the outskirts of Lomé. [9]
Status
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Elected | Term of office | Political party | Prime minister(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
1 | ![]() | Sylvanus Olympio (1902–1963) | 1961 | 27 April 1960 | 13 January 1963 (Assassinated in a coup) | 2 years, 261 days | CUT | Himself |
– | ![]() | Emmanuel Bodjollé (1928–?) [lower-alpha 1] | — | 13 January 1963 | 15 January 1963 | 2 days | Military | Position abolished |
2 | ![]() | Nicolas Grunitzky (1913–1969) | 1963 | 16 January 1963 | 13 January 1967 (Deposed in a coup) | 3 years, 362 days | MPT | Position abolished |
– | ![]() | Kléber Dadjo (1914–1988/89) [lower-alpha 2] | — | 16 January 1967 | 14 April 1967 | 91 days | Military | Position abolished |
3 | ![]() | Gnassingbé Eyadéma (1935–2005) [lower-alpha 3] | — | 14 April 1967 | 5 February 2005 (Died in office) | 37 years, 297 days | Military (until 1969) | Koffigoh E. Kodjo Klutse Adoboli A. Kodjo Sama |
1972 1979 1986 1993 1998 2003 | RPT | |||||||
4 | ![]() | Faure Gnassingbé (born 1966) [lower-alpha 4] | — | 5 February 2005 [lower-alpha 5] | 25 February 2005 (Resigned) [lower-alpha 6] | 20 days | RPT | Sama |
– | ![]() | Bonfoh Abass (1948–2021) [lower-alpha 7] | — | 25 February 2005 | 4 May 2005 | 68 days | RPT | Sama |
(4) | ![]() | Faure Gnassingbé (born 1966) [lower-alpha 4] | 2005 2010 | 4 May 2005 | Incumbent | 18 years, 313 days | RPT (until 2012) | Sama E. Kodjo Agboyibo Mally Houngbo Ahoomey-Zunu Klassou Dogbé |
2015 2020 | UNIR |
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Faure Gnassingbé | Union for the Republic | 1,760,309 | 70.78 | |
Agbéyomé Kodjo | Patriotic Movement for Democracy and Development | 483,926 | 19.46 | |
Jean-Pierre Fabre | National Alliance for Change | 116,336 | 4.68 | |
Aimé Gogué | Alliance of Democrats for Integral Development | 59,777 | 2.40 | |
Wolou Komi | Socialist Pact for Renewal | 29,791 | 1.20 | |
Georges Williams Kuessan | Santé du Peuple | 19,923 | 0.80 | |
Tchassona Traoré | Civic Movement for Democracy and Development | 16,814 | 0.68 | |
Total | 2,486,876 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 2,486,876 | 89.80 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 282,411 | 10.20 | ||
Total votes | 2,769,287 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 3,614,056 | 76.63 | ||
Source: Constitutional Court |
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It is one of the least developed countries and extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its capital, Lomé, is located. It is a small, tropical country, which covers 57,000 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 8 million, and it has a width of less than 115 km (71 mi) between Ghana and its eastern neighbour Benin.
The history of Togo can be traced to archaeological finds which indicate that ancient local tribes were able to produce pottery and process tin. During the period from the 11th century to the 16th century, the Ewé, the Mina, the Gun, and various other tribes entered the region. Most of them settled in coastal areas. The Portuguese arrived in the late 15th century, followed by other European powers. Until the 19th century, the coastal region was a major slave trade centre, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name "The Slave Coast".
Politics of Togo takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Togo is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. After independence, the party system was dominated first by the authoritarian Rally for the Togolese People, and later by its successor party, Union for the Republic.
Gnassingbé Eyadéma was a Togolese military officer and politician who was the president of Togo from 1967 until his death in 2005, after which he was immediately succeeded by his son, Faure Gnassingbé.
Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé Eyadéma is a Togolese politician who has been the president of Togo since 2005. Before assuming the presidency, he was appointed by his father, President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, as Minister of Equipment, Mines, Posts, and Telecommunications, serving from 2003 to 2005.
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Gilchrist Olympio is a Togolese politician who was a long-time opponent of the regime of Gnassingbé Eyadéma and was President of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC), Togo's main opposition party from the 1990s til 2013. Olympio is the son of Sylvanus Olympio, Togo's first President, who was assassinated in a 1963 coup. He is now an ally of the current regime of Faure Gnassingbe, the son of the late President.
The Rally of the Togolese People was the ruling political party in Togo from 1969 to 2012. It was founded by President Gnassingbé Eyadéma and headed by his son, President Faure Gnassingbé, after the former's death in 2005. Faure Gnassingbé replaced the RPT with a new ruling party, the Union for the Republic (UNIR), in April 2012, dissolving the RPT.
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