While we were in Togo two weeks ago, apparently Kpatcha Gnassingbé, a half brother of the president tried to overthrow the current regime and was arrested a few days after the attempted coup. Today, the official Togolese government news website announced more arrests in relation to this attempted coup. On Easter Sunday, April 12, troops [...]

Today Togo celebrated 49 years of independence from its former colonial power France. According to the government news site RepublicofTogo.com, this was the first time there was a substantial celebratory event at the national government level. For many years under Gnassingbe Eyadema’s rule it was forbidden to celebrate this day. Only the 13 January was [...]

We’re back at home. After 3 weeks in Ghana and Togo, we undertook the last leg of our trip on Friday – from Accra via New York back home to Durham. The guy who’d rented us his Bimmer came to pick us up at 6 AM and took us to Kotoka Int’l Airport. Like so [...]

For almost two weeks Laura and I and the kids have been back to Yikpa – the village in Togo where Laura and I met all these years ago. Our visit is going very well. Our reception was just amazing! We had almost two days of celebration, including a formal welcome with a sacrifice of [...]

We made it! We arrived in Accra, Ghana, yesterday at 8AM. Uncle E.K. picked us up and drove us to the house we’re staying in while we’re in Accra. It’s HOT – no rains yet (that’s a problem for the farmers!) but the house does have A/C. We use the cooling sparingly because we need to [...]

Yovo is going back to the village! In a week from now, we will be on our most exciting, most anticipated family trip yet, back to Yikpa – the village where Laura and I met all these years ago. Next weekend, we’ll fly directly from New York to Accra. In Accra we’ll be staying at [...]

After five years of civil war (2002 – 07) and a year of relative peace, it appears that Côte d’Ivoire is getting back on track to stability, democracy and eventually, relative prosperity. In the 80′s, the West African nation was still one of the continent’s successes. In those days, many of my Togolese friends dreamed [...]

A close presidential election in Ghana has put the West African nation’s electoral system to the test, but in the end the opposition candidate John Atta Mills, 64, won by a very narrow margin. There were allegations of fraud on several sides, and the runoff election in the Tain region had to be re-done due [...]

German Vice-chancellor and foreign minister Steinmeier is in Togo for talks with Faure Gnassingbe. He appears to be following the new EU strategy of engagement with Gnassingbe, whereby they hope to win concessions on the development of a more functional democracy in Togo. Good luck with that. Also, I cannot stand these idiotic descriptions of [...]

Congratulations to the team from Egypt for defending the title in the Cup of African Nations against the team from Cameroon (1-0). The host Ghana came in third place on Saturday, defeating Ivory Coast 0-1.

The Africa Cup of Nations began today with close 2-1 win for host Ghana over Guinea. Congratulations to the Black Stars! This Africa Cup is considered a dress rehearsal for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where several African teams are hoping to showcase world class African Football. In any case, the Africa Cup [...]

In Togo, there was some hope that the this month’s legislative election was going to be bring about some change in the political landscape of that troubled country. In retrospect, I am not sure why. Maybe because Faure’s regime is slightly less brutally oppressive than his father’s? Maybe the increased presence of international observers? The [...]

On Aug. 26 last year, the LRA and the Ugandan government signed a truce, putting an end to 20 years of war and brutality in Northern Uganda. A friend of mine just returned from Gulu recently and he told me last week about how much that town has changed. Four new Hotels are under construction, [...]

There is so much interesting and important stuff going on: A new film documents the ongoing genocide perpetrated on the Acholi people in Uganda (HT to Vicky), perpetuated by, among other things, US military aid (war-on-terror-dollars) The US Congress is debating about subsidies for a road fuel that releases twice as much pollution as gasoline: [...]

Togo is mourning the death of 21 supporters of the national football team, including Togolese Sports Minister Richard Attipoe, in a helicopter crash in Sierra Leone on Monday: At least 21 people, most of them Togolese, were killed when the Russian-made Mi-8 helicopter operated by Paramount Airlines exploded and crashed late on Sunday at Lungi [...]

The Story is a syndicated radio show produced at WUNC in Chapel Hill. The show is hosted by Dick Gordon, who interviews people who have an interesting story to tell. Today, they aired the segment where Laura and Agbessi get to tell the story of the library in Yikpa, and the impact it had on [...]

The parliamentary elections in Togo have been postponed to August 5. This is probably a good thing because it give the parties in Togo time to prepare, but it also means that the RPT has more time to rig the vote. Ouagadougou – Togo’s general election will be postponed from June 24 until August 5 [...]

The Gulf of Aden separates the Horn of Africa from the Arabian Peninsula. Due to the desperate conditions, politically and economically, in Somalia and in Ethiopia, thousands of people from that region attempt to cross the Gulf of Aden to search for a better life in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Callous human traffickers exploit the [...]

Francophones – faites attention! This is a hillarious story by a Belgian writer, DDL: The Great Satan and the paralyzed man. During a recent visit to Togo, DDL was apparently inspired by a story in the news about an incident between Satan and a pastor who was trying to destroy him (it?). Kagni Alem, a [...]

Ablodé to our Togolese friends! Even though this is still more a rallying cry than a victory chant. Forty eight years ago Togo became an independent nation, relived from the yoke of French colonialism, only to become, after a few years, the playground of one of Africa’s original dictators, Etienne Gnassingé Eyadema. Ablodé – freedom [...]