TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/world/t/togo.2a

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                                                                                History

   The Ewes moved into the area which is now Togo from the Niger
River Valley between the 12th and 14th centuries. During the
15th and 16th centuries, Portuguese explorers and traders
visited the coast. For the next 200 years, the coastal region
was a major raiding center for Europeans in search of slaves,
earning Togo and the surrounding region the name the "Slave
Coast."

   In a 1884 treaty signed at Togoville, Germany declared a
protectorate over a stretch of territory along the coast and
gradually extended its control inland. Because it became
Germany's only self-supporting colony, Togoland was known as its
model possession. In 1914, Togoland was invaded by French and
British forces and fell after a brief resistance. Following the
war, Togoland became a League of Nations mandate divided for
administrative purposes between France and the United Kingdom.

   After World War II, the mandate became a UN trust territory
administered by the United Kingdom and France. During the
mandate and trusteeship periods, western Togo was administered
as part of the British Gold Coast. In 1957, the residents of
British Togoland voted to join the Gold Coast as part of the new
independent nation of Ghana.

   By statute in 1955, French Togo became an autonomous republic
within the French Union, although it retained its UN trusteeship
status. A legislative assembly elected by universal adult
suffrage had considerable power over internal affairs, with an
elected executive body headed by a prime minister responsible
to the legislature. These changes were embodied in a
constitution approved in an 1956 referendum. On September 10,
1956, Nicholas Grunitzky became prime minister of the Republic
of Togo. However, due to irregularities in the plebiscite, a
UN-supervised general election was held in 1958 and won by
Sylvanus Olympio. On April 27, 1960, in a smooth transition,
Togo severed its juridical ties with France, shed its UN
trusteeship status, and became fully independent under a
provisional constitution with Olympio as president.

   A new constitution in 1961 established an executive
president, elected for 7 years by universal suffrage, and a
weak national assembly. The president was empowered to appoint
ministers and dissolve the assembly, holding a monopoly of
executive power. In elections that year, from which Grunitzky's
party was disqualified, Olympio's party won 90% of the vote and
all 51 National Assembly seats, and he became Togo's first
elected president.

   Four principal political parties existed in Togo: the leftist
Juvento (Togolese Youth Movement); the Union Democratique des
Populations Togolaises (UDPT); the Parti Togolais du Progres
(PTP), founded by Grunitzky but having limited support; and the
Unite Togolaise (UT),the party of President Olympio. Rivalries
between elements of these parties had began as early as the
1940s, and they came to a head with Olympio dissolving the
opposition parties in January 1962 ostensibly because of plots
against the majority party government. Many opposition members,
including Grunitzky, fled to avoid arrest.

   On January 13, 1963, President Olympio was assassinated in an
uprising of army noncommissioned officers dissatisfied with
conditions following their discharge from the French army.
Grunitzky returned from exile 2 days later to head a provisional
government with the title of prime minister. On May 5, 1963, the
Togolese adopted a new constitution which reinstated a
multiparty system, chose deputies from all political parties for
the National Assembly, and elected Grunitzky as president and
Antonine Meatchi as vice president. Nine days later, President
Grunitzky formed a government in which all parties were
represented.

   During the next several years, the Grunitzky government's
power became insecure. On November 21, 1966, an attempt to
overthrow Grunitzky -- inspired principally by civilian
political opponents in the UT party -- was unsuccessful.
Grunitzky then tried to lessen his reliance on the army, but on
January 13, 1967, Lt Col. Etienne Eyadema (later Gen.
Gnassingbe Eyadema) ousted President Grunitzky in a bloodless
military coup. Political parties were banned, and all
constitutional processes were suspended. The Committee of
National Reconciliation ruled the country until April 14, when
Eyadema assumed the presidency. In late 1969, a single national
political party, the Assembly of the Togolese People (RPT), was
created, and President Eyadema was elected party president on
November 29, 1969. In 1972, a national referendum, in which
Eyadema ran unopposed, confirmed his role as the country's
president.

   In late 1979, Eyadema declared a Third Republic and a
transition to a more civilian rule with a mixed civilian and
military cabinet. He garnered 99.7% of the vote in uncontested
presidential elections held in late 1979 and early 1980. A new
constitution also provided for a national assembly to serve
primarily as a consultative body. Eyadema was reelected to a
third consecutive 7-year term in December 1985 with 99.5% of the
vote in an uncontested election.

   On September 23, 1986, a group of some 70 armed Togolese
dissidents crossed into Lome from Ghana in an attempt to
overthrow the Eyadema government. With all Togolese armed forces
units remaining loyal to the president, the incursion was halted
after 2 days of sporadic fighting. The attempted overthrow
resulted in several hundred casualties, with official figures
listing 13 dissidents and 23 Togolese soldiers and civilians
killed. As a result of bilateral tensions caused by the
incursion, the Togo-Ghana border closed for several months.

Current Political Conditions

   The present Togolese Government is a highly centralized,
one-party system that rules by decree. Since its creation in
1969, the ruling RPT has taken control of women's, youth, and
labor groups by creating party organs to replace or supervise
existing organizations. Party committees in almost every village
in the country often sponsor self-help development activities
or promote political education. In the official protocol of
Togo, members of the political bureau of the RPT take precedence
over members of the cabinet. All cabinet ministers are ex
officio members of the party's central committee and are
appointed by the president. The role of the National Assembly
is still evolving. Presently, proposed legislation is submitted
by the Council of Ministers to the assembly and becomes law
after its proforma approval.

   Recently the Togo Government has sought to improve its image.
In October 1987, Togo established a National Human Rights
Commission for the investigation of complaints of human rights
abuses. It is authorized to receive complaints from Togolese and
foreign residents and has access to government and police files.
Its primary functions include promoting the rights of
individuals -- through education programs regarding human rights
issues -- and curtailing official abuses. Also, following
longstanding complaints of corruption, President Eyadema in late
1988 began a highly visible anticorruption campaign leading to
the ouster of several senior government officials.

   The Togolese judiciary is modeled on the French system. The
highest review court is the Supreme Court, headed by a
presidential appointee. For administrative purposes, Togo is
divided into 21 prefectures, each having a prefect (governor)
appointed by the president.

Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs,
February 1990.