“At this moment, there is no reason warranting the Government of the Republic of The Gambia to take a position, since the Togolese people continue to make efforts to find a solution to the crisis”, the press release from the ministry states. “The Gambia and the Republic of Togo remain bonded by strong ties of brotherhood and friendship and it is the wish of the two Heads of State that these relations be furthered strengthened in the coming years”, the statement dishonestly concludes.
One wonders what “ties of brotherhood and friendship” bond The Gambia and Togo given their diametrically opposed governance trajectory. While The Gambia has emerged from decades of dictatorship and has embarked on constitutional reform to end self-perpetuating autocracy and misrule, Togo stands out as the most repressive dictatorship in West Africa. For the Government of The Gambia to proudly associate itself with the autocratic regime in Togo is an insult to all victims of autocratic rulers, including Gambians who had suffered untold brutality under Jammeh.
Indeed, the ousted Gambian dictator, Yahya Jammeh, was bonded with the dictator in Togo by their shared ties of repression, human rights violation and sheer disregard for the rule of law. In 2015, Jammeh and Gnassingbé blocked a draft ECOWAS treaty on presidential term limits. The two countries are the only members of ECOWAS that do not have presidential term limits. This is about to change for The Gambia as the new government in Banjul intends to introduce two term limits to the presidency.
Why did The Gambia make a sudden change of position on Togo? The Gambia has no economic, commercial or strategic interests to pursue in its relations with Togo. Just as one would think that The Gambia was standing up for something, the country made a shameful U-turn! A new and democratic Gambia ought to be one that does not fear to speak truth to power and stand in solidarity with those challenging autocracies.
So long as the struggle for freedom and rule of law is concerned, the people of The Gambia have so much in common with the people of Togo. The Gambian state should not forget its people’s long struggle against dictatorship. The Gambia must not take comfort in being indifferent to the struggle of Togolese for freedom, democracy and rule of law. After fifty long years of misrule and bloodshed, Togolese have had enough of the Gnassingbé presidential dynasty. One does not see how the ongoing crackdown on peaceful protesters can keep the regime in power for long. With the ouster of Jammeh, Faure Gnassingbé is now at the center of attention in the sub-region and he is in for greater scrutiny and pressure to relinquish power. The Gnassingbe family has been ruling Togo since a 1967 coup which brought Gnassingbé Eyadéma to power.
Given the ongoing political crisis in Togo, ECOWAS should not have elected Mr Gnassingbé as Chair of the bloc at this time. While ECOWAS was commended for a timely intervention in The Gambia, its choice of Gnassingbé as head of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government exposes the contradictions and inconsistencies in the bloc. Togo is an eyesore in ECOWAS which is otherwise the most coherent and democratically governed of all the regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa. The bloc must, as a matter of urgency, prevail on Gnassingbé to implement political reforms and commit not to run for a fourth term in office.
The government in Banjul should imagine what The Gambia would have become if all other countries had turned a blind eye in December and January when Gambians needed moral voices and the help of other nations to confront and defeat Jammeh –who was as dangerous as Gnassingbé is in Togo today. The timely intervention in The Gambia by ECOWAS and the rest of the international community arguably spared the country a civil war.