Togo’s opposition on Tuesday disputed an electoral register validated by an international organisation last week, saying it still feared fraud in the next legislative elections.
No date has been set for the parliamentary vote, but the opposition hopes to challenge the majority of the party of President Faure Gnassingbe after boycotting the last election in 2018.
The International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), an organisation representing countries where French is spoken, last week said the electoral register was “reliable” after an audit at the government’s request.
“This is another trick to reinforce electoral fraud with certification by the OIF,” Eric Dupuy, spokesperson for the opposition National Alliance for Change (ANC), told AFP.
Results rejected
Gerard Adja, executive secretary of the DMP alliance of parties and civil society organisations, said they rejected the OIF conclusions.
Gnassingbe had promised in December last year that an election would be held within 12 months, but authorities have given no indication of the date.
The opposition mobilised its supporters to register at voter card centres this year.
Togo’s head of state has been in power since 2005 after the death of this father, General Eyadema Gnassingbe who ruled the country for 38 years.
Gnassingbe has been reelected several times, in elections always contested by the opposition.
