Yawovi Agboyibo
Encyclopedia
Yawovi Madji Agboyibo is a Togo
lese politician. He served as Prime Minister
of Togo
from September 2006 to December 2007 and was National President of the Action Committee for Renewal
(CAR), an opposition political party, from 1991 to 2008. He is currently the Honorary President of the CAR.
, in 1943; his parents were Soklou Agboyibo and Doafio. He became a lawyer and was active as an advocate for human rights
. In the March 1985 parliamentary election
, which was held during the single-party rule of the Rally of the Togolese People
(RPT), he was elected to the National Assembly
as an independent, winning the seat for Yoto Est constituency with 82.63% of the vote.
In 1987, President Gnassingbé Eyadéma
appointed Agboyibo as President of the National Commission for Human Rights, which was created by the government on June 9, 1987 and inaugurated on October 21, 1987. He served in that position until 1990.
Agboyibo was re-elected to the National Assembly in 1990, serving as a Deputy until the National Assembly was dissolved in 1991. He was also a member of the Togolese League of Human Rights and was President of the Committee of Action against Tribalism and Regionalism from December 1990 to 1991.
Agboyibo was a leading participant in the struggle for democracy in the early 1990s and was President of the Front of Associations for Revival (FAR) at that time. He participated in the July–August 1991 National Conference and was subsequently a member of the High Council of the Republic, which acted as the transitional legislature, from 1991 to 1992. He also transformed the FAR into the Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), a political party, in 1991. He was a member of the Vatican
's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
from 1990 to 1995, and on May 12, 1993 he was awarded the first German Africa Prize.
Although Agboyibo was initially a candidate in the August 1993 presidential election
, he announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy and boycotting the election, along with fellow opposition candidate Edem Kodjo
, on August 22. He and Kodjo withdrew due to concerns about fraud, believing that the number of registered voters—which had sharply increased since 1992—was too high. In the absence of any serious opposition, incumbent President Eyadéma won the election overwhelmingly.
Agboyibo was elected to the National Assembly in the first round of the February 1994 parliamentary election
as the CAR candidate in the First Constituency of Yoto-Centre. Following the election, the CAR and its ally, the Kodjo-led Togolese Union for Democracy (UTD), held a parliamentary majority, and they proposed Agboyibo as Prime Minister in March 1994. However, the elections for three opposition-held seats (two for the CAR and one for the UTD) were subsequently invalidated, narrowly depriving the alliance of its majority. Eyadéma appointed Kodjo as Prime Minister in April 1994; according to the CAR, Kodjo's acceptance of the post represented a violation of the two parties' agreement, and it refused to participate in Kodjo's government. Agboyibo served as President of the CAR Parliamentary Group during the 1994–1999 parliamentary term.
On August 12, 1997, when Agboyibo was leaving the residence of the United States
' ambassador to Togo, his car was stolen and his driver was knocked unconscious in an assault in the Lomé
neighborhood of Be-Gbenyedji. In November 1997, Agboyibo was assaulted in Bafilo
before he was to address a meeting of the CAR. He said that his assailants were soldiers and that the authorities were responsible.
On April 18, 1998, Agboyibo was nominated by the CAR as its candidate for the June 1998 presidential election
at a national convention of the party in Lomé, becoming the third declared candidate. On this occasion he said that the register of voters was seriously flawed and needed to be reviewed. On June 18, he and fellow opposition candidate Zarifou Ayéva
called for the election to be delayed due to irregularities during electoral preparations and difficulties they faced in campaigning, including their treatment by the High Audiovisual and Communication Authority. Following the election, held on June 21, he denounced the declaration of Eyadéma's victory by the Interior Ministry as being based on "completely false figures" on June 24 and said that fellow opposition candidate Gilchrist Olympio
of the Union of the Forces of Change (UFC) had actually won the election. According to final results from the Constitutional Court, Agboyibo received 9.54% of the vote, in third place behind Eyadéma and Olympio.
In 1999, Agboyibo was head of the CAR delegation to the Inter-Togolese Dialogue. On January 10, 2001, he called on Eyadéma to dissolve the National Assembly and hold a transparent early parliamentary election in March 2001, in order to fulfill a July 1999 agreement with the opposition. Later in 2001, Agboyibo was tried for defamation of Prime Minister Agbeyome Kodjo
; he had allegedly defamed Kodjo in 1998 by saying that Kodjo had participated in organizing a militia group while he was director of the Lomé
port. On August 3, 2001, Agboyibo was sentenced to six months in prison and was fined 100,000 CFA franc
s. On August 23, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) called for his release, saying that he had not received a fair trial and noting that the president of the court was also the ruling RPT's representative on the National Electoral Commission. On September 27, he was additionally charged with having links to a group that allegedly committed crimes in Sedome in 1997. In late November, Amnesty International
called for Agboyibo's release. Although an appeal court ruled in favor of Agboyibo regarding the defamation sentence in January 2002, he was not released due to the other charge of criminal complicity. He was finally released on Eyadéma's orders on March 14, 2002, a decision that Eyadéma's office attributed to "the interest of national reconciliation and political appeasement".
Agboyibo was the CAR's candidate in the presidential election
of June 1, 2003, taking third place with 5.12% of the vote, according to official results. He claimed that fellow opposition candidate Emmanuel Bob-Akitani
of the UFC won the election, placing Bob-Akitani's score at 54.80%, his own score at 13.46% (second place), and Eyadéma's score at only 11.03% (fourth place) in a statement on June 4. Despite this claim, Eyadéma was officially declared the winner, and Agboyibo denounced the election as fraudulent.
Regionally, Agboyibo was President of the Union of African Parties for Democracy and Development from 1996 to 2004 and became Vice-President of the Union of African Parties for Democracy and Development – West Africa in 2005.
He was general coordinator of the opposition during the April 2005 presidential election
; on 23 April, the day before the election, which was marked by violence and accusations of fraud, he denounced the election as "an electoral masquerade". On 22 April 2006 he was elected as the consensus choice for the position of President of the Bureau of the Inter-Togolese Dialogue, which ran from 21 April to 20 August 2006.
His appointment as Prime Minister was announced on 16 September 2006 and he formed a government, composed of 35 ministers, four days later.
In the October 2007 parliamentary election
, Agboyibo ran as a CAR candidate in Yoto Prefecture, and he was one of four CAR candidates who won seats in the election.
Following the election, Agboyibo presented his resignation to President Faure Gnassingbé
on November 13, 2007, saying that the election marked the end of the mission he had been assigned. It was speculated that he would be reappointed as Prime Minister by Gnassingbé, but on December 3 Komlan Mally
of the RPT was appointed as Prime Minister. Agboyibo was succeeded by Mally at a ceremony on December 6, in which he spoke of his sadness in leaving office. Agboyibo chose not to sit in the National Assembly, leaving his seat to a substitute.
The CAR held an ordinary congress in October 2008, and at the congress Agboyibo chose to step down as the President of the CAR; he was replaced by Dodji Apévon. It is unusual for party leaders to step down in Togo, and according to Apévon, Agboyibo's decision was "a lesson in humility and democracy that Mr. Agboyibo wanted to impose on the political class". Agboyibo was, however, chosen as the party's candidate for the 2010 presidential election
, and he was designated as the Honorary President of the CAR.
On January 15, 2010, Agboyibo was formally invested as the CAR's candidate for the 2010 presidential election. Amidst the election events, Agboyibo dedicated a book, Political and Social Governance in Africa, 20 Years After the La Baule Summit: the Case of Togo (Gouvernance politique et sociale en Afrique, 20 ans après le sommet de la Baule, le cas du Togo) on February 20, 2010. In the book, he criticized Togolese politicians for putting their own profit ahead of the interests of the people; he also emphasized the importance of dialogue and argued that meaningful opposition should not be defined by a refusal to participate in dialogue with the government.
In the presidential election, held on 4 March 2010, Agboyibo placed third, with 2.96% of the vote, according to official results. He placed far behind the top two candidates, President Gnassingbé and fellow opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre
.
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 politician. He served as Prime Minister
Heads of government of Togo
-Prime Ministers of Togo :-Affiliations:*CAR *CFN *CPP...
of 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...
from September 2006 to December 2007 and was National President of the Action Committee for Renewal
Action Committee for Renewal
The Action Committee for Renewal is an opposition political party in Togo. Dodji Apévon has led the party since 2008; previously it was led by Yawovi Agboyibo from 1991 to 2008....
(CAR), an opposition political party, from 1991 to 2008. He is currently the Honorary President of the CAR.
Political career
Agboyibo was born at Kouvé, located in Yoto PrefectureYoto
Yoto is a prefecture located in the Maritime Region of Togo. The prefecture seat is located in Tabligbo....
, in 1943; his parents were Soklou Agboyibo and Doafio. He became a lawyer and was active as an advocate for human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. In the March 1985 parliamentary election
Togolese parliamentary election, 1985
Parliamentary elections were held in Togo on 24 March 1985. The country was a one-party state at the time, with the Rally of the Togolese People as the sole legal party. Unlike the previous election in 1979 when a single list of candidates was presented to voters for approval, this election won...
, which was held during the single-party rule of the Rally of the Togolese People
Rally of the Togolese People
The Rally of the Togolese People is the ruling political party in Togo. The President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé, is also the National President of the RPT....
(RPT), he was elected to the National Assembly
National Assembly of Togo
The unicameral National Assembly of Togo is the country's legislative body. It has a total of 81 members who are elected in a party list proportional representation system...
as an independent, winning the seat for Yoto Est constituency with 82.63% of the vote.
In 1987, 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...
appointed Agboyibo as President of the National Commission for Human Rights, which was created by the government on June 9, 1987 and inaugurated on October 21, 1987. He served in that position until 1990.
Agboyibo was re-elected to the National Assembly in 1990, serving as a Deputy until the National Assembly was dissolved in 1991. He was also a member of the Togolese League of Human Rights and was President of the Committee of Action against Tribalism and Regionalism from December 1990 to 1991.
Agboyibo was a leading participant in the struggle for democracy in the early 1990s and was President of the Front of Associations for Revival (FAR) at that time. He participated in the July–August 1991 National Conference and was subsequently a member of the High Council of the Republic, which acted as the transitional legislature, from 1991 to 1992. He also transformed the FAR into the Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), a political party, in 1991. He was a member of the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is a part of the Roman Curia dedicated to "action-oriented studies" for the international promotion of justice, peace, and human rights from the perspective of the Roman Catholic Church...
from 1990 to 1995, and on May 12, 1993 he was awarded the first German Africa Prize.
Although Agboyibo was initially a candidate in the August 1993 presidential election
Togolese presidential election, 1993
Presidential elections were held in Togo on 25 August 1993. They were the first presidential elections in the country to feature more than one candidate. However, the major opposition parties boycotted the election, and only two minor candidates ran against incumbent President Gnassingbé Eyadéma,...
, he announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy and boycotting the election, along with fellow opposition candidate Edem Kodjo
Edem Kodjo
Édouard Kodjovi Kodjo, better known as Edem Kodjo , is a Togolese politician and diplomat. He was Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity from 1978 to 1983; later, in Togo, he was a prominent opposition leader after the introduction of multiparty politics. He served as Prime...
, on August 22. He and Kodjo withdrew due to concerns about fraud, believing that the number of registered voters—which had sharply increased since 1992—was too high. In the absence of any serious opposition, incumbent President Eyadéma won the election overwhelmingly.
Agboyibo was elected to the National Assembly in the first round of the February 1994 parliamentary election
Togolese parliamentary election, 1994
Parliamentary elections were held in Togo on 6 February 1994, with a second round on 18 March in 24 constituencies. The first multi-party elections since they 1960s, they saw the ruling Rally of the Togolese People finish second behind the Action Committee for Renewal , who together with their...
as the CAR candidate in the First Constituency of Yoto-Centre. Following the election, the CAR and its ally, the Kodjo-led Togolese Union for Democracy (UTD), held a parliamentary majority, and they proposed Agboyibo as Prime Minister in March 1994. However, the elections for three opposition-held seats (two for the CAR and one for the UTD) were subsequently invalidated, narrowly depriving the alliance of its majority. Eyadéma appointed Kodjo as Prime Minister in April 1994; according to the CAR, Kodjo's acceptance of the post represented a violation of the two parties' agreement, and it refused to participate in Kodjo's government. Agboyibo served as President of the CAR Parliamentary Group during the 1994–1999 parliamentary term.
On August 12, 1997, when Agboyibo was leaving the residence of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' ambassador to Togo, his car was stolen and his driver was knocked unconscious in an assault in the Lomé
Lomé
Lomé, with an estimated population of 737,751, is the capital and largest city of Togo. Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center and its chief port. The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and palm kernels...
neighborhood of Be-Gbenyedji. In November 1997, Agboyibo was assaulted in Bafilo
Bafilo
Bafilo is a city in Togo south of Kara, in Kara Region, known for its large mosque, good wagassi cheese, its weaving industry and the nearby Bafilo Falls....
before he was to address a meeting of the CAR. He said that his assailants were soldiers and that the authorities were responsible.
On April 18, 1998, Agboyibo was nominated by the CAR as its candidate for the June 1998 presidential election
Togolese presidential election, 1998
A presidential election was held in Togo on 21 June 1998. President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, in power since 1967, was re-elected with 52.1% of the total vote according to official results...
at a national convention of the party in Lomé, becoming the third declared candidate. On this occasion he said that the register of voters was seriously flawed and needed to be reviewed. On June 18, he and fellow opposition candidate Zarifou Ayéva
Zarifou Ayéva
Zarifou Ayéva is a Togolese politician and the President of the Party for Democracy and Renewal . He served in the government of Togo as a minister during the 1970s and became an opposition leader in the early 1990s...
called for the election to be delayed due to irregularities during electoral preparations and difficulties they faced in campaigning, including their treatment by the High Audiovisual and Communication Authority. Following the election, held on June 21, he denounced the declaration of Eyadéma's victory by the Interior Ministry as being based on "completely false figures" on June 24 and said that fellow opposition candidate Gilchrist Olympio
Gilchrist Olympio
Gilchrist Olympio is a Togolese politician and the President of the Union of Forces for Change , the country's main opposition party. Since the late 1970s, Mr...
of the Union of the Forces of Change (UFC) had actually won the election. According to final results from the Constitutional Court, Agboyibo received 9.54% of the vote, in third place behind Eyadéma and Olympio.
In 1999, Agboyibo was head of the CAR delegation to the Inter-Togolese Dialogue. On January 10, 2001, he called on Eyadéma to dissolve the National Assembly and hold a transparent early parliamentary election in March 2001, in order to fulfill a July 1999 agreement with the opposition. Later in 2001, Agboyibo was tried for defamation of Prime Minister Agbeyome Kodjo
Agbeyome Kodjo
Messan Agbéyomé Gabriel Kodjo is a Togolese politician who served as Prime Minister of Togo from 29 August 2000 to 27 June 2002.-Political career:...
; he had allegedly defamed Kodjo in 1998 by saying that Kodjo had participated in organizing a militia group while he was director of the Lomé
Lomé
Lomé, with an estimated population of 737,751, is the capital and largest city of Togo. Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center and its chief port. The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and palm kernels...
port. On August 3, 2001, Agboyibo was sentenced to six months in prison and was fined 100,000 CFA franc
CFA franc
The CFA franc is the name of two currencies used in Africa which are guaranteed by the French treasury. The two CFA franc currencies are the West African CFA franc and the Central African CFA franc...
s. On August 23, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) called for his release, saying that he had not received a fair trial and noting that the president of the court was also the ruling RPT's representative on the National Electoral Commission. On September 27, he was additionally charged with having links to a group that allegedly committed crimes in Sedome in 1997. In late November, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
called for Agboyibo's release. Although an appeal court ruled in favor of Agboyibo regarding the defamation sentence in January 2002, he was not released due to the other charge of criminal complicity. He was finally released on Eyadéma's orders on March 14, 2002, a decision that Eyadéma's office attributed to "the interest of national reconciliation and political appeasement".
Agboyibo was the CAR's candidate in the presidential election
Togolese presidential election, 2003
Presidential elections were held in Togo on 1 June 2003. The result was a victory for incumbent President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who won 57.8% of the vote.-Results:* Gnininvi withdrew his candidacy in May but remained on the ballot paper....
of June 1, 2003, taking third place with 5.12% of the vote, according to official results. He claimed that fellow opposition candidate Emmanuel Bob-Akitani
Emmanuel Bob-Akitani
Emmanuel Bob-Akitani is a Togolese politician who was the main opposition candidate in the 2003 and 2005 Togolese presidential elections. He is the Honorary President of the Union of Forces for Change ....
of the UFC won the election, placing Bob-Akitani's score at 54.80%, his own score at 13.46% (second place), and Eyadéma's score at only 11.03% (fourth place) in a statement on June 4. Despite this claim, Eyadéma was officially declared the winner, and Agboyibo denounced the election as fraudulent.
Regionally, Agboyibo was President of the Union of African Parties for Democracy and Development from 1996 to 2004 and became Vice-President of the Union of African Parties for Democracy and Development – West Africa in 2005.
He was general coordinator of the opposition during the April 2005 presidential election
Togolese presidential election, 2005
A presidential election was held in Togo on April 24, 2005, following the death in office of long-time president Gnassingbé Eyadéma. The main candidates were Eyadéma's son, Faure Gnassingbé, and opposition leader Emmanuel Bob-Akitani. The election and the period preceding it were marked by...
; on 23 April, the day before the election, which was marked by violence and accusations of fraud, he denounced the election as "an electoral masquerade". On 22 April 2006 he was elected as the consensus choice for the position of President of the Bureau of the Inter-Togolese Dialogue, which ran from 21 April to 20 August 2006.
His appointment as Prime Minister was announced on 16 September 2006 and he formed a government, composed of 35 ministers, four days later.
In the October 2007 parliamentary election
Togolese parliamentary election, 2007
A parliamentary election was held in Togo on October 14, 2007 for the 81 seats in the National Assembly. There were over 2,000 candidates, with 32 parties and 41 lists of independent candidates competing. The ruling Rally of the Togolese People was victorious, winning a majority of 50 seats...
, Agboyibo ran as a CAR candidate in Yoto Prefecture, and he was one of four CAR candidates who won seats in the election.
Following the election, Agboyibo presented his resignation to President 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...
on November 13, 2007, saying that the election marked the end of the mission he had been assigned. It was speculated that he would be reappointed as Prime Minister by Gnassingbé, but on December 3 Komlan Mally
Komlan Mally
Komlan Mally is a Togolese politician who served as Prime Minister of Togo from December 2007 to September 2008. He was Minister of State for Health from September 2008 to June 2011.-Early life and political career:...
of the RPT was appointed as Prime Minister. Agboyibo was succeeded by Mally at a ceremony on December 6, in which he spoke of his sadness in leaving office. Agboyibo chose not to sit in the National Assembly, leaving his seat to a substitute.
The CAR held an ordinary congress in October 2008, and at the congress Agboyibo chose to step down as the President of the CAR; he was replaced by Dodji Apévon. It is unusual for party leaders to step down in Togo, and according to Apévon, Agboyibo's decision was "a lesson in humility and democracy that Mr. Agboyibo wanted to impose on the political class". Agboyibo was, however, chosen as the party's candidate for the 2010 presidential election
Togolese presidential election, 2010
A presidential election was held in Togo on 4 March 2010. Incumbent President Faure Gnassingbé—who won his first term in a presidential election that followed the death of his father, long-time President Gnassingbé Eyadema, in 2005—faced radical opposition candidate Jean-Pierre Fabre,...
, and he was designated as the Honorary President of the CAR.
On January 15, 2010, Agboyibo was formally invested as the CAR's candidate for the 2010 presidential election. Amidst the election events, Agboyibo dedicated a book, Political and Social Governance in Africa, 20 Years After the La Baule Summit: the Case of Togo (Gouvernance politique et sociale en Afrique, 20 ans après le sommet de la Baule, le cas du Togo) on February 20, 2010. In the book, he criticized Togolese politicians for putting their own profit ahead of the interests of the people; he also emphasized the importance of dialogue and argued that meaningful opposition should not be defined by a refusal to participate in dialogue with the government.
In the presidential election, held on 4 March 2010, Agboyibo placed third, with 2.96% of the vote, according to official results. He placed far behind the top two candidates, President Gnassingbé and fellow opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre
Jean-Pierre Fabre
Jean-Pierre Fabre is a Togolese politician. He has been the Secretary-General of the Union of the Forces of Change , Togo's main opposition party, since 1992, as well as the President of the UFC Parliamentary Group in the National Assembly from 2007 to August 10th 2010. Fabre was the UFC candidate...
.