List of presidents of Togo explained

Post:President
Body:the
Togolese Republic
Native Name:French: Président de la<br>République togolaise
Flag:Presidential Standard of Togo v2.png
Flagsize:125px
Flagcaption:Presidential Standard
Incumbent:Faure Gnassingbé
Incumbentsince:4 May 2005
Type:Head of state
Residence:New Presidential Palace, Lomé
Termlength:5 years, renewable once.
Formation:27 April 1960
First:Sylvanus Olympio

This is a list of presidents of Togo since the formation of the post of president in 1960, to the present day.

A total of four people have served as president (not counting one acting president and two interim military officeholders). Additionally, one person, Faure Gnassingbé, has served on two non-consecutive occasions.

Gnassingbé is the incumbent president, since 4 May 2005.

Description of the office

Election

The president of the Republic is elected by universal, direct and secret suffrage for a mandate of five (05) years.[1]

He is re-eligible. As of 2021, there is a two-term limit for the president in the Constitution of Togo which was reinstated in 2019. This limit has been lifted for Gnassingbé Eyadéma in 2002 and for Faure Gnassingbé in 2019.[2]

The election of the president of the Republic takes place by uninominal majority ballot in one (01) round.[3]

The president of the Republic is elected with the majority of the suffrage expressed.

The vote is opened on convocation of the electoral body by decree taken in the Council of Ministers sixty (60) days at least and seventy-five (75) days at most before the expiration of the mandate of the president in office.[4]

No one may be a candidate for the office of the president of the Republic if they:[5]

  1. are not exclusively of Togolese nationality by birth;
  1. are not thirty-five (35) years of age on the date of the deposit of the candidature;
  1. do not enjoy all their civil and political rights;
  1. do not present a general state of physical and mental well-being duly declared by three (03) sworn physicians, designated by the Constitutional Court;
  1. do not reside in the national territory for at least twelve (12) months.

The president of the Republic enters office within the fifteen days which follow the proclamation of the results of the presidential election.[6]

Oath of office

Before his entry into office, the president of the Republic swears before the Constitutional Court meeting in solemn hearing, in these terms:[7]

Vacancy

In case of a vacancy of the presidency of the Republic by death, resignation or definitive incapacity, the presidential function is exercised provisionally by the president of the National Assembly.[8]

The vacancy is declared by the Constitutional Court referred to [the matter] by the Government.

The Government convokes the electoral body within the sixty (60) days of the opening of the vacancy for the election of a new president of the Republic.

Residences

After independence, the President of Togo used the Palace of the Governors as an office and residence. The Palace was formerly used by both German and French colonial administrators. In 1970, President Gnassingbé Eyadéma moved in a new Presidential Palace built near the Palace of the Governors. Another residence used by the Gnassingbé Eyadéma was the Presidential Residence of Lomé II. In 2006, a new Presidential Palace, financed by China, was inaugurated by President Faure Gnassingbé on the outskirts of Lomé.[9]

List of officeholders

Political parties
Other factions

Status

PortraitName
ElectedTerm of officePolitical partyPrime minister(s)
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
1Sylvanus Olympio
1961 1960 1963
CUTHimself
Emmanuel Bodjollé
1963 1963MilitaryPosition abolished
2Nicolas Grunitzky
1963 1963 1967
MPTPosition abolished
Kléber Dadjo
1967 1967MilitaryPosition abolished
3Gnassingbé Eyadéma
1967 2005
Military
Koffigoh
E. Kodjo
Klutse
Adoboli
A. Kodjo
Sama
1972
1979
1986
1993
1998
2003
RPT
4Faure Gnassingbé
2005 2005
RPTSama
Bonfoh Abass
2005 2005RPTSama
(4)Faure Gnassingbé
2005
2010
4 May 2005IncumbentRPT
Sama
E. Kodjo
Agboyibo
Mally
Houngbo
Ahoomey-Zunu
Klassou
Dogbé
2015
2020

Latest election

See main article: 2020 Togolese presidential election.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Article 59 of the Constitution of 1992.
  2. Web site: Cook . Candace . Siegle . Joseph . Circumvention of Term Limits Weakens Governance in Africa . Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
  3. Article 60 of the Constitution of 1992.
  4. Article 61 of the Constitution of 1992.
  5. Article 62 of the Constitution of 1992.
  6. Article 63 of the Constitution of 1992.
  7. Article 64 of the Constitution of 1992.
  8. Article 65 of the Constitution of 1992.
  9. Web site: Le président Faure inaugure le palais présidentiel construit avec l'aide chinoise . 2022-06-20 . www.mfa.gov.cn.