Togo president must resign immediately - Gambian Foreign Minister

Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe should resign immediately and the African Union and West African regional bloc ECOWAS should persuade him to step down, Gambia’s Foreign Minister Ousainou Darboe told Reuters.

Darboe’s comments are an early sign that opinion is shifting against Gnassingbe who took power in 2005 on the death of his father who ruled from 1967.

The West African country faces a political crisis in which at least ten have died since August. The opposition are demanding the immediate resignation of the president in a bid to end what they term the Gnassingbe dynasty.

Faure Gnassingbe has nothing new to offer Togo after 12 years: Obasanjo https://t.co/8lfKMd0DBr

— africanews (@africanews) September 9, 2017

Faure’s father, Eyadema, ruled for 38 years till his death in 2005. Faure took over after winning elections held later that year. He won the contested polls and has since won two other polls in 2010 and 2015.

He has since chalked 12 years with his current mandate running till 2020. The opposition demands is calling for a return to the 1992 constitution which imposes term limits on the presidency. Eyadema scrapped it to continue in power.

The government move to reintroduce the limits along with other reforms have failed due to opposition boycott.

Leave office or office will leave you, Obasanjo tells veteran African leaders https://t.co/aBryEsKvFd

— Grace Natabaalo (@Natabaalo) September 13, 2017