Togo police fire teargas at protesters

Togolese authorities fired tear gas Tuesday to disperse a protest by several thousand people in the capital Lome, the latest such move in the volatile build-up to parliamentary polls expected in October.

The streets of the capital were tense after tear gas was fired and demonstrators scattered, with some protesters burning tyres and erecting roadblocks.

Later in the day, several hundred people sought to rally in Lome’s Independence Square, but were blocked by security forces.

One protest organiser spoke of a number of people being detained and injured, but could not provide figures and authorities had not yet commented.

It was the first of three days of planned protests by Let’s Save Togo, a coalition of opposition and civil society groups. It was not immediately clear whether the marches set for Wednesday and Thursday would go ahead.

Several previous demonstrations have also been dispersed with tear gas.

The protesters had gathered in Lome’s Be neighbourhood and were planning to march to the major commercial area of Deckon, where about 100 police officers had been deployed after the government declared the zone off-limits to demonstrators.

There were indications the route for Tuesday’s march would be changed at the last minute, having it pass through Deckon instead of finishing there for a rally, but authorities and protesters could not agree on the itinerary.

The tear gas was fired some 10 minutes after the start of the protest.

“We have recorded several injuries and detentions,” Zeus Ajavon, Let’s Save Togo coordinator, told journalists. “We haven’t come up with a tally for the time being.”

Protesters had early in the day pledged to carry through with the march despite the government’s stated intention to block it.

“No one will stop us from going to Deckon,” Dodji Amou, a taxi driver who was among the protesters, said before the march began. “The country belongs to all of us.”

Last week, the government of the west African nation banned street demonstrations in commercial centres, setting up a showdown with the coalition, which had already announced the protests and pledged to follow through on its plans.

Some of the opposition are seeking a delay in the elections to allow reforms to take effect beforehand. Some also want the repeal of changes to the electoral code passed by parliament on the grounds that they were not made properly.

The government has justified the decision to make commercial centres off-limits by citing the difficulty of maintaining security and public order in such areas, but the opposition have denounced the move as a bid to stifle critics.

While the elections are expected to be held in October, no date has been set.

Togo has been run by the same family for more than four decades. Gnassingbe Eyadema ruled the country for 38 years with an iron fist until his death in 2005.

Faure Gnassingbe was installed in the presidency by the army in 2005 shortly after the announcement of his father’s death. He has since won elections in 2005 and 2010.