Professor Edmund N. Delle, CPP Chairman and Leader in an interview with the CDA Consult in Accra on Thursday on recently social/political unrest in Togo, noted that “Togo is a ticking time bomb if we fail to act immediately”.

The CPP Chairman therefore called on the ECOWAS, African Union and the International Community to assist Togo resolve its impending political upheaval “We must immediately create a platform for all Political Leaders, Civil Society Organisations, Media, Religious, and Traditional Leaders as well as democratic stakeholders to dialogue”.

“The CPP also calls on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to immediately consult other ECOWAS Leaders to set in motion mechanism for peaceful engagement by all stakeholders in Togo and restoration of confidence in the democratic process. “Ghana must play a leading role to resolve the evolving Political and Civil unrest in Togo”.

Thousands of Togolese nationals last Saturday August 19, held demonstrations in about half a dozen cities around the world including north of the capital Lome where it turned deadly after clashes with security forces.

The demonstrations tagged: “Anti-Gnassingbe Dynasty Protests,” organised by the opposition Pan African National Party (PNP) were held simultaneously in Accra, Libreville, New York, and Berlin demanding the reinstatement of the Togolese 1992 Constitution which limits the term limit of the President. The 1992 Constitution of Togo which stipulates a two five-year term limit for a President was set aside by the Togolese Parliament to allow President Gnassingbe to contest Election for the third term in 2015.

Prof. Delle noted that even though demonstrations forms part of a political weapon in a democratic process, “democratic forces must avoid unbridled protest and violent pronouncements which most often ignites hostilities leading to the loss of precious lives, destruction of properties and general insecurity. “We must reduce the tendency of using violent means to resolve political problems or the heavy arm of the State security to deal with political opponents and suppress divergent views in a democratic environment”.

The CPP Chairman also appealed to President Gnassingbe and the leader of the main opposition Mr Tikpi Atchadam of the PNP party to work together for the interest of Togolese and strengthen Togolese democratic development. Besides the reinstatement of the constitution, the leader of the PNP party Mr Tikpi Atchadam told the media that they want to immediately end the Gnassingbe dynasty which has ruled Togo for 50 years “from father to son. “It’s like a family property and we are ready to resist that this time”.

President Faure Gnassingbe has been in power since the death of his father Gnassingbe Eyadema in 2005 who ruled for 38 years. Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) provides tailor made development communication tools necessary for operational transformation and translating dreams into achievable goals and equips clients with mechanism for public education on specific issues.

It also provides effective back-up as well as frontline monitoring and evaluation tools to ensure value for money delivery of projects, whilst providing clients with skills to deliver timely and accurate information on their activities, work, programmes and projects.

CDA Consult is also aimed at building a responsive working culture for corporate growth through a social process at institutional levels based on dialogue using a broad range of tools and methods. It also assists client to use continuous and adaptive process of gathering, organising and formulating information and data into argument and to communicate to policy-makers through various interpersonal and mass media communication channels.

Source: CDA Consult