Hundreds Protest in Vogan, Togo, Demanding Return to Previous Constitution

Hundreds of people gathered Saturday in Vogan, a town roughly 60 kilometers south of Lomé, to protest against Togo's 2024 constitutional reform, which opposition groups and civil society organizations call an illegal power grab by President Faure Gnassingbé.

People protest against Togo's longtime leader, Faure Gnassingbe, in Lome, Togo June 26, 2025.

What Happened in Vogan

The rally, organized by opposition parties and civil society groups including the Cadre national de concertation pour le changement, opened with a traditional libation ceremony before opposition leaders joined supporters in singing Togo's national anthem. The gathering drew participation from prominent figures, among them lawyer Dodji Apévon, activist Eric Dupuy, and professors Aimé Gogué and David Dosseh.

David Dosseh, spokesperson for the civil society group Front Citoyen Togo Debout, called the 2024 changes completely illegal, describing them as a constitutional coup that Togolese people will never accept.

The 2024 Reform at the Center of the Dispute

The constitutional changes adopted in March 2024 replaced Togo's presidential system with a parliamentary one, transferring executive power to a newly created post, President of the Council of Ministers, which carries no term limits. Gnassingbé, who had governed Togo as president since 2005, assumed that role in 2025, a shift critics argue lets him remain in power indefinitely without facing direct elections.

The Ruling Fueling the Opposition's Case

Opposition momentum has been bolstered by a ruling last month from a body that found the reforms violate the country's democratic principles, calling it an unconstitutional change of government passed by a parliament whose mandate had already expired.

A Pattern of Unrest

Saturday's demonstration follows a wave of anti-government protests that began in 2025 and, according to civil society estimates, left seven people dead, though prosecutors put the toll at five and attributed those deaths to drownings. Organizers described the Vogan rally as a first step in renewed mobilization following earlier demonstrations in Lomé. The government has previously banned opposition protests tied to the reform, and rights groups have documented arrests during earlier rounds of unrest.

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