The 9th Pan-African Congress in Lome is an Affront to Pan-Africanism
On Wednesday, the opposition in Togo attempted to organize a press conference to address the new constitution in Togo. The event was broken up by the police, which has become standard practice in Togo. The new constitution now gives the power to the Togolese parliament to elect the president of the nation. Togolese opposition leaders and political activists rightfully recognize that this move signals yet another blow to democracy in Togo.
One feature of the dictatorship in Togo which I have often drawn attention to is the fact that the regime not only strengthens its own position through undermining democratic institutions, but the regime also tries to present a very favorable and progressive image of itself internationally. As the dictatorship in Togo moves to further entrench its power through dismantling the constitution, it’s also seeking to align itself with Pan-Africanism given that Pan-Africanism has historically been a very progressive force in Africa.
My first introduction to the politics of Togo was through my research on Pan-Africanism. I came across the name Tavio Amorin. He was the General Secretary of the Pan-African Socialist Party in Togo. I found that Tavio Amorin was a political leader who was mercilessly assassinated by Gnassingbé Eyadéma because he dared to advocate a vision for Togo and for Africa in which the masses were empowered rather than being oppressed by an oppressive dictatorship. Reading about Tavio Amorin was also my first introduction to Eyadéma.
I came across Tavio Amorin’s name as a college student. This was around 2011. Tavio Amorin came to my mind again years later during the 2017 protests in Togo. The years of advocacy work that I have done for the Togolese people since 2017 has exposed me to the fact that there is a very strong Pan-African spirit among the Togolese people. Some of the most committed Pan-Africanists that I have done have been the comrades from Togo that I have met through my advocacy work. This is why the Pan-African Congress which is being hosted in Lomé should be seen as an affront to serious Pan-Africanists.
The website for the 9th Congress states:
Pan-Africanism, which is a vision of unity and political, economic and cultural sovereignty of Africa and its peoples, is a movement that adapts to the demands of the times. It is relevant today as it was yesterday. It is a paradigm of survival in the face of systems of oppression and exploitation, such as racism, slavery, colonialism, apartheid, police brutality, neocolonialism and neo-liberalism. The destruction of statues and symbols of white supremacy following the assassination of George Floyd by a white police officer on May 25, 2020 in United States gave a boost to Pan-Africanism in the context of the universalization of the Black Lives Matter Movement and of a multiracial global movement for freedom and justice. Pan-Africanism is experiencing a resurgence due to several factors, namely the advent of the Internet, new information technologies and social media, which contribute to faster circulation of information on Pan-African initiatives.
It’s insulting to see such a thing written about a Congress being hosted in Togo. The government of Togo is the textbook definition of neocolonialism. Eyadéma was a soldier who served the French colonial army, assisting France in the struggle against anti-colonial independence movements in Algeria and French Indochina. The regime in Togo is a neocolonial regime. It’s also insulting to see the write-up speak of the advent of the internet and social media as if the current regime in Togo didn’t violate the rights of its citizens by denying them internet access.
I agree that the murder of George Floyd certainly did give Pan-Africanism a boost as Africans around the world came together to denounce the brutal treatment of our African American brothers and sisters at the hands of the police in America. Likewise, we must come together to condemn the brutal treatment of our Togolese brothers and sisters at the hands of the police in Togo.
What the write-up left out was that the 2017 protests in Togo also gave Pan-Africanism a boost. I wrote in Faure Must Go that my goal has been to rebuild the Pan-African movement. The spirit of resistance and pride which I saw from the Togolese people in 2017 was a great inspiration to me, so when I began the effort of rebuilding Pan-Africanism in 2017, Togo was the first cause that I involved myself in and I have been involved ever since.
Since 2017, my work to help liberate Togo has been the center of all my Pan-African work. It’s been mentioned in most of the books that I have published since I published Faure Must Go. It’s been a cause which I have brought into every Pan-African organization which I have been involved in. I have been such a staunch advocate for Togo that I have often been mistaken for being a Togolese myself. I would respond by noting that I was not born in Togo, but I may very well have ancestral roots there.
I firmly believe that Togo will play an important role in the renewal of Pan-Africanism, but only because of the example which the people of Togo have set in their courageous struggle for liberation. This is why I would urge anyone who is committed to renewing Pan-Africanism to give their support to the struggle to liberate Togo.
