Togo - February 2025
Togo holds first Senate election as part of constitutional transition
On 15 February, Togo conducted its first Senate election, completing its transition to an ‘assembly independent’ political system, under constitutional reforms promulgated in 2024. Forty-one of the 61 Senators were indirectly elected by municipal and regional councillors. The remaining 20 senators were appointed by the President of the Council of Ministers, Faure Gnassingbé, on 5 March. According to Togo’s Electoral Commission, women senators will take up six of the 41 seats. The ruling Union for the Republic (Union pour la République - UNIR) secured 83.0 per cent (34 of 41) the indirectly elected seats, while smaller opposition parties won 17.0 per cent (7 of 41). Several major opposition groups, including the Alliance Nationale pour le Changement (ANC) and Forces Démocratiques pour la République (FDR), boycotted the vote while describing it as a “constitutional coup d’etat” due to concerns that the larger package of reforms of which this election was a part of allow President Faure Gnassingbé to remain in power indefinitely. Foreign media were not accredited to cover the election.
Sources: Commission Electorale Nationale Indépendante (1), Commission Electorale Nationale Indépendante (2), News Central, Jeune Afrique, Bloomberg, Barron’s, International IDEA
