Unity and Mass Struggle: Lessons from Togo
There was a sense in 2017 that the dictatorship in Togo was on the verge of being toppled. Not only were the masses of Togolese people out in the streets demonstrating and protesting for their freedom, but there was also unity among the various opposition parties in Togo. This was important because it created a united force against the regime, but the opposition parties have since splintered and the movement in 2017 has dissipated. This is not the first time that the disunity of the opposition parties in Togo contributed to weakening the effort to fight dictatorship. The same thing happened in the 1990s with the failure of the Collective for the Democratic Opposition.
The lesson from Togo’s struggle is that a disunited people cannot hope to defeat a unite force. In Africa today the forces of neo-colonialism are unified. We saw this in Togo when the governments of Ghana and others rushed in to support Faure against the protests. The other lesson is that the masses must be cautious of trusting political opposition with movements such as this because the reality we do find opportunists within the ranks of the opposition who are willing to sellout the struggle of the people as soon as they seize power.
If the struggle against dictatorship in Togo is to truly prevail, there must not only be a unified effort, but that united effort must also be connected to the genuine interests of the masses of Togolese people who can no longer afford to be sold out by opportunist opposition leaders.
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