Togo bans election delay protests

Togo's government has denied opposition parties a permit to stage protests this week against a constitutional reform that has fuelled political tensions.

But the parties in the West African nation said they would go ahead with two days of demonstrations against a constitutional amendment and a government decision to delay April 20 elections.

The opposition says the reform is an attempt to extend the rule of President Faure Gnassingbe, the country's leader since 2005.

Minister of Territorial Administration Hodabalo Awate, said the application by the protest organisers had not been made in time and violated regulations.

Protests 'to continue'

"For these reasons, the organisation of your demonstrations scheduled for April 11, 12 and 13, 2024, is not authorised," the minister said in a letter.

But the opposition National Alliance for Change (ANC) and other groups said the protests would continue but be reduced to action on Friday and Saturday.

The response from other opposition parties was not immediately clear.

Street demonstrations have been banned in Togo since 2022, after an attack on a market in Lome during which a gendarme was killed.

Tensions

Opposition leaders have demanded the government withdraw the constitutional reform, passed last month, which allows the National Assembly to directly elect the president "without debate."

Tensions over the constitutional reform have seen police break up a recent opposition press conference and a group of influential figures calling for protests.