Let’s keep our Togolese neighbors and Ugandan brethren in our thoughts and prayers as they confront the entrenched greed of their ruling elites, who twist democratic principles to hang on to power.
In Togo, the late Gnassingbé Eyadéma, was in power for 38 years, from 1967 until his death in 2005.
Faure Gnassingbé, son of Eyadema, became the president from 2005 until 3 May 2025. He pulled a fast one on the Togolese people in April 2024 with a constitutional coup.
Unwilling to relinquish control, and leave the stage, Faure orchestrated a new constitution which shifted Togo to a parliamentary system.
The changes in the constitution carved a position called President of the Council of Ministers, which Faure assumed on 3rd May 2025.
The new position allows him to keep is hands on the levers of power even though he is no longer the president. This position, elected by a National Assembly dominated by his Union for the Republic (UNIR) party, has no fixed term limits, allowing him to rule indefinitely.
The new President of Togo, Jean-Lucien Savi de Tové, who took office on 3 May 2025, is a mere figurehead, holding a ceremonial role with limited executive powers.
He is elected by the National Assembly (Parliament) for a single four-year term without renewal. As president, he represents Togo in official capacities but lacks the authority to govern meaningfully.
Meanwhile, Faure Gnassingbé, as President of the Council of Ministers, wields the real power, controlling policy-making and administration with no end in sight.
This dynastic stranglehold – 58 years of Gnassingbé rule—stands as a grotesque betrayal of the Togolese people, particularly its youth, who face unemployment, repression, and a future stolen by a self-serving bourgeoisie.
In Uganda, the story is no less infuriating. The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, is now 80 years old. He has clung on to power since 1986 – 39 years.
Yet, astonishingly, he is seeking another term in 2026. Like Faure Gnassingbé, Museveni has mastered the art of constitutional manipulation, scrapping term limits in 2005 and abolishing the presidential age limit in 2017 to ensure his perpetual candidacy.
His party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) dominates Uganda’s political landscape, and opposition voices, like those of Bobi Wine, are silenced through arrests, torture, and electoral fraud.
Museveni’s rumored plan to groom his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, as a successor only deepens the insult, transforming Uganda’s presidency into a de facto monarchy.
This dynastic ambition mirrors Togo’s, revealing a pattern of African leaders who treat their countries as personal fiefdoms.
Across Africa, from Togo to Uganda, Cameroon to Rwanda, leaders like Faure Gnassingbé and Yoweri Museveni expose a vile truth: too many African rulers view power not as a responsibility to serve but as a birthright to hoard.
Their constitutional manipulations are not clever political strategies but cowardly acts of theft, robbing citizens of their right to choose their leaders.
These leaders hide behind parliaments they control, elections they rig, and constitutions they rewrite, all while their people languish in poverty, unemployment, and despair.
The audacity to extend their rule – whether through new titles like Togo’s “President of the Council of Ministers” or by scrapping term limits like Uganda’s Museveni – reveals a profound contempt for democracy and the will of the people.
Their actions are a slap in the face to the sacrifices of those who fought for independence and self-governance, betraying the very principles they claim to uphold.
To the youth of Togo, Uganda, and every corner of Africa where leaders cling to power like leeches – you are the heartbeat of this continent, and your resistance is its hope.
The young people of Togo, chanting “50 years is too long” and braving tear gas and arrests, are showing the way. In Uganda, where Bobi Wine’s movement has galvanized a generation, the spirit of defiance burns bright despite brutal crackdowns.
The youth of these countries must not tolerate the political class amending constitutions to entrench their greed. They must Rise up – through protests, social media, art, and organized movements.
They must demand that term limits be respected, that elections be free, and that power serves the people, not the powerful.
Africa’s youth must organize, resist, and reclaim your future, using platforms like X, TikTok and Facebook where government controls are limited.
Let Togo and Uganda be the spark that ignites a continent-wide rejection of despots who believe only they, are wise and knowledgeable enough to rule perpetually. Respect the term limits and go. Africa’s youth will accept nothing.
About the Author:
Ras Mubarak is a former Ghanaian Member of Parliament, Broadcaster, Activist, Politician & Commentator on Global Affairs. He’s written extensively over the last two decades on current affairs.
