Eyadema and the Togolese Dynasty
Olympio, independent Togo's first president, refused to absorb demobilised Togolese veterans of the French colonial army into his forces; a group of them killed him in January 1963 in what is generally recognised as sub-Saharan Africa's first coup after independence. Eyadema, one of the participants, seized the presidency outright in 1967 and built a single-party state around a personality cult, sustained by phosphate revenue and close French support. Multiparty politics were formally conceded under pressure in the early 1990s but never produced an alternation of power; opposition candidates were harassed and results disputed. On Eyadema's death in 2005 the constitution was amended within hours so that his son Faure Gnassingbe could succeed him, a transfer accompanied by several hundred deaths in protests. Constitutional reforms in 2024 moved Togo to a parliamentary system with the president chosen by the legislature, extending the family's tenure further.
- Year: 1967 CE
- Category: Political
