Togo’s Faure Gnassingbé Assumes Powerful New Role Without Term Limits
Faure Gnassingbé, the longtime president of Togo, has been sworn into a newly created and term-limit-free position — President of the Council of Ministers — raising serious concerns about a permanent concentration of power in the hands of a single family dynasty.
The move follows sweeping constitutional reforms approved by parliament last year, shifting the nation from a presidential system to a parliamentary framework. While the traditional presidency will now be largely symbolic, Gnassingbé’s new role is the most powerful in the executive branch — and carries no official term limits.
Critics, including opposition leaders, have called the development an “institutional coup d’état”, claiming the changes were designed to ensure Gnassingbé’s indefinite rule. His family has dominated Togo’s politics for 58 years, with Faure taking over in 2005 following the death of his father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who ruled for nearly 40 years.
Despite public backlash and temporary pauses in the reform process, Gnassingbé’s administration pushed forward. With his Union for the Republic (UNIR) party holding 108 of 113 seats in parliament, his grip on power remains virtually unchallenged.
Under the new system, municipal elections set for July will be the first under the altered constitution, solidifying the shift. While the reforms claim to modernize governance, analysts suggest they entrench authoritarian rule under a parliamentary guise.
This move adds Togo to the growing list of African nations where long-serving leaders are reengineering constitutional frameworks to bypass term limits, weakening democratic institutions in the process.
