Togo votes as Faure Gnassingbe seeks to extend dynasty’s half-century rule

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Lome – Togolese citizens voted on Saturday in a presidential election expected to extend Faure Gnassingbe’s 15 years in office, and his family’s more than half a century in power.

Many in the West African country of 8 million say they are fed up with the dynasty of Gnassingbe and his father Eyadema Gnassingbe, who seized power in a 1967 coup, and the persistent poverty that followed.

But the family has fended off challenges, including protests that were met with deadly force in 2005 and 2017. Some political analysts expect Gnassingbe to win the election outright in the first round.

After voting, Gnassingbe said he was pleased with the turn-out. “I’m confident. I’ve been supported by my campaigners and sympathisers.”

The election follows a constitutional revamp last year that limits presidents to two five-year terms. The reform was not retroactive, however, meaning the president could be in power for another decade.