3 killed as Togolese protest presidential dynasty

By Alphonse Logo

LOME, Togo (AA) - Three people were killed and 80 injured in a protest against the 50-year rule of President Faure Gnassingbe and his father, Togo’s opposition said late Thursday.

The deaths came as anti-government protesters clashed with security forces trying to enforce a ban on weekday demonstrations in the capital Lome.

“Today the record is even heavier than yesterday... Three people were killed by bullets, 44 people are injured by bullets, 36 others were injured by caning,” Brigitte Kafui Adjamagbo-Johnson, head of an opposition coalition, told reporters.

Security Minister Col. Yark Damehame denied the claim of protesters being killed.

Johnson said at least 55 people were arrested on Thursday and claimed the army had hired militiamen to beat protesters. Journalists had complained of intimidation and assault by soldiers who objected to being filmed, she added.

“It is unacceptable that part of the Togolese army use militias against the population,” Wolou Komi, a spokesman for the opposition Socialist Pact for Renewal, said. “The other side of the army must oppose this and publicly denounce this situation.”

Togo has seen two months of protests against Gnassingbe’s rule. He has been president since 2005, when he succeeded his father, who had been in power since 1968, making it the longest dynasty in Africa.

The 14-party opposition alliance wants constitutional change to introduce limits on the presidential term of office.

The opposition pledged on Thursday that demonstrations would be carried out every day until Gnassingbe leaves office.

At least 15 people have been killed since August, when hundreds of thousands began taking to the streets.