With pomp and circumstance Togo held the funeral for Gnassingbe Eyadema on Sunday.

A giant portrait of Eyadema, with the words “I will always be with you”, overlooked Lome’s marbled Palais des Congres building where dignitaries had gathered to receive the coffin.

Yes, he’ll remain with us as an example of the bad old times in post-colonial Africa. Good riddance to the scourge of Togo.

Eyadema treated Togo like his personal property. He and his French buddies sucked the country dry in his 38-year rule. He murdered Sylvanus Olympio, the first elected President of Togo, in the first coup in 1963. Over the years, Eyadema’s military regime imprisoned, tortured and “disappeared” hundreds of opposition activists (see AI reports).

Now there is hope that Togo can start joining many other African countries, like Ghana, Benin, Botswana, South Africa, on the path of democracy, human and civil rights, and ultimately stability and a broad and fair distribution of the country’s wealth. To be sure, getting there won’t be easy. There’s still the RTP and the generals – and Baby Eyadema – to deal with. But here is clearly an opportunity for the Togolese opposition to put them on the defensive.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 14th, 2005 at 10:07 pm and is filed under History, Palmwine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.