Why Togo’s Liberation Matters
The recent arrest of Togolese rapper Aamron further highlights the state of Togo under the Gnassingbé family. For over fifty years the people of Togo have had to endure a brutally repressive regime which has overseen the neglect and underdevelopment of Togo. Under the Gnassingbé family, Togo has consistently ranked among the poorest and most miserable nations in the world, yet there is something else which Togo must be known for. This is the resilience and courage of its people.
The Togolese people have never passively accepted the corruption and misrule of the Gnassingbé family. This can be demonstrated by the fact that there were massive protests in the country in 2017 and 2018 on the part of people who demanded an end to decades of dictatorship. The response to Aamron’s arrest is yet another example which demonstrates that the people of Togo are not willing to passively accept the repression of the regime in power.
Due to the legacy of colonialism and racism, African nations are often viewed as being irrelevant or insignificant within international affairs. This has unfortunately been the case for Togo. This lack of international attention has, in the past, worked to the benefit of the dictatorship in Togo because it has allowed the dictatorship to oppress its own people with relatively little international pressure or outcry. This has been changing in recent years, however.
Today there is much more coverage and attention to what goes on in Togo than there was in 2017 when I became involved in Togo’s liberation struggle. This has been a very encouraging development to me. This means that it is not as easy for Faure to pretend to be a democratically elected leader. Since the 2017 protests in Togo, the Togolese regime’s international image has been tainted. This is demonstrated by Faure Gnassingbe’s need to defend himself against accusations of being a dictator. This is a significant change from the past when Faure was able to successfully convince international allies such as the United States that Togo was making “democratic gains”. This lie clearly is not working anymore, as demonstrated by the MCC’s decision last year to defer its grant to Togo until democratic rights in the country are strengthened. Even the regime’s effort to rebrand itself as Pan-African has failed, which is why the regime was unable to garner enough support for its planned Pan-African Congress last year.
There has been a shift in how the international community perceives what is happening in Togo, yet more can be done to support the effort to liberate Togo from decades of dictatorship. This effort should matter to all who uphold human rights, dignity, and freedom. It’s especially important for those who profess to be Pan-Africanists who are working toward the liberation of Africa. Togo currently has the oldest military dictatorship in Africa. Not only this, but Togo is also the first African nation to experience a military coup. In some respects, Togo has set the example and continues to set the example for other repressive African states. It is my hope that Togo can also set the example for what toppling a dictatorship in Africa looks like. Togo’s freedom is a necessary step towards Africa’s freedom.
Togo also matters to me on a personal level. I often say that I was born in Guyana, but I’m from Africa. That’s where my ancestors were taken from and those ties have never been broken. The country of Togo is located in a region of West Africa which was known as the “Slave Coast” because of how many Africans were stolen from there. That’s why Togo’s struggle is personal for me. Togo’s my country and the people who are being oppressed by the dictatorship there are my family.
