The Gambia has joined the opposition in Togo to call on Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe to resign as agitations continue in the West African nation for an end to the Gnassingbe dynasty which has lasted for 50 years.
The foreign minister of The Gambia, Ousainou Darboe told Reuters that the African Union and West African regional bloc ECOWAS must persuade President Gnassingbe to to step down immediately.
There have series of protests in Togo by opposition party supporters leading to some deaths as security forces crackdown on dissent.
Hundreds have been forced into exile in neighboring Ghana with several others arrested by the security forces. Protests have also been banned by the government on weekdays but that directive is being defied by protesters.
Brigitte Adjamagbo who is one of the leaders of the opposition movement is quoted by Reuters as saying that “We deplore this toll and we say that backing down is out of the question. Despite what we have suffered, we will maintain our call for protests tomorrow,”
Faure Gnassingbe took over from his father Eyadema 12 years ago after he died while in power for 38 years. He has since won elections in 2005, 2010 and 2015 but got the two-term limit for presidents scrapped a year ago to allow him to further prolong his rule.
Source: Africafeeds.com
