Kofi Esaw is a Togo

Togo

Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...

lese diplomat who was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation from 2008 to 2010.

Esaw was appointed as Foreign Minister on 15 September 2008 as part of the government headed by Prime Minister Gilbert Houngbo

Gilbert Houngbo

Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo is the Prime Minister of Togo since 8 September 2008.-Education and career at the UN:Houngbo holds an advanced degree in business management from the University of Lomé in Togo, as well as a degree in accounting and finance from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in...

. He had previously been the Ambassador of Togo to Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 for four years, beginning on 29 September 2004; while serving as Ambassador to Ethiopia, he was also Togo's Ambassador to the African Union

African Union

The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...

, which is headquartered in Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...

, Ethiopia.

Esaw was appointed as Ambassador to Ethiopia in early August 2004. During the diplomatic crisis that followed the death of Togolese President Gnassingbé Eyadéma

Gnassingbé Eyadéma

General Gnassingbé Eyadéma , was the President of Togo from 1967 until his death in 2005. He participated in two successful military coups, in January 1963 and January 1967, and became President on April 14, 1967...

 in February 2005, Esaw defended the succession of Eyadema's son, Faure Gnassingbé

Faure Gnassingbé

Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé has been the President of Togo since May 4, 2005. A son of President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, he was appointed to the government by his father, serving as Minister of Equipment, Mines, Posts, and Telecommunications from 2003 to 2005...

, at a meeting of the African Union. According to Esaw, the father-son succession, which was widely deemed unconstitutional, was necessary because Togo faced "a very dangerous situation", saying that "there was the prospect of unrest and the only way to avoid the unrest was to take the action we did." The African Union's disapproval of the succession led to its decision to suspend Togo from the organization at the same meeting; Esaw was asked to leave the meeting following the suspension.