While regular multiparty elections have taken place since 1992, the late Gnassingbé Eyadéma and his son, Faure Gnassingbé, have controlled Togolese politics since a 1963 coup. Gnassingbé maintains control in part through a security apparatus dominated by his ethnic group, malapportioned election districts that benefit the ruling party, co-optation of opposition parties, and opportunistic changes to the constitutional and legal framework. Opposition calls for reform have been harshly repressed.

• In March and April, the National Assembly—whose original term had expired—voted to adopt constitutional revisions that effectively shifted the country from a presidential to a parliamentary system, with a largely ceremonial head of state who would be elected by lawmakers for up to two four-year terms, and an empowered prime minister with no term limits. The terms of the National Assembly were extended from five to six years. President Gnassingbé, who signed the revision legislation in early May, was widely expected to move to the premier’s post when his term expired in 2025. The process by which the revisions were drafted and enacted was widely criticized for its haste, opacity, and apparent violation of the existing constitution’s requirement for a referendum on any changes to the president’s term and mode of election. Security forces banned and dispersed attempts by the opposition and civil society to organize press conferences, meetings, and protests to denounce the changes.
• In the April legislative elections, which had been postponed from December 2023 and were held just days after the adoption of the revised constitution, the ruling Union for the Republic (UNIR) party won 108 of 113 seats in the National Assembly. Having boycotted the 2018 elections, major opposition parties mobilized for the 2024 contest, but they captured only five seats spread across four parties; only 19 percent of the new legislature’s seats were held by women. The opposition and some local observers alleged election irregularities and fraud, while the Roman Catholic Church was banned from participation in election monitoring.
• Members of regional councils were elected for the first time in April, concurrently with the National Assembly elections. The UNIR won 137 out of 179 seats, according to final results from the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI). Under the revised constitution, two-thirds of a new Senate would be elected by regional and municipal councilors, and the remaining third would be appointed by the more powerful prime minister, known as the president of the Council of Ministers. The Senate was expected to be established in 2025.
• The authorities took a number of steps to suppress critical media coverage during the year. In March, the publishing director of La Dépêche was detained for two weeks on charges including defamation and incitement for a story about the murder trial of an army officer, and the newspaper was suspended for three months. In April, a French journalist was arrested, abused in custody, sentenced to a suspended six-month jail term for illegal entry, and expelled; the accreditation process for all foreign journalists was then suspended for two months. In July, the media regulator imposed a three-month suspension on a Radio Victoire FM program after it interviewed an exiled opposition leader. Separately, L’Alternative, a respected newspaper that was shut down in 2023 when its publisher and editor fled the country to avoid prison sentences, relaunched in March as a website based in France and Senegal, with some journalists in Togo.

This report has been abridged for Freedom in the World 2025 due to ongoing budget constraints. Freedom in the World is entirely funded by nongovernmental sources such as private foundations, corporations, and individuals like you. Please consider making a donation to support future editions of this vital resource.

For additional background information, see last year’s full report.