This is a list of presidents of Togo since the formation of the post of president in 1960, to the present day.
A total of four people have served as president (not counting one acting president and two interim military officeholders). Additionally, one person, Faure Gnassingbé, the current president, has served on two non-consecutive occasions: first from the death of his father, Gnassingbé Eyadema, on 5 February 2005 until his resignation 20 days later on 25 February and the second one since 4 May 2005.
Togo has, for most of its independence, had a presidential system in which the president was not only the head of state, but also the head of government and that the role had much power over both domestic and foreign policy. However, constitutional reforms adopted in April 2024 reduced the president's powers, made the role more ceremonial, and moved the country towards a more parliamentary system. While the role became ceremonial, the president is still the commander-in-chief of the Togolese Armed Forces and still has the power to appoint or dismiss the prime minister. The reform also changed the way the president is elected, from being directly elected by citizens to being indirectly elected by the National Assembly.[1][2]
Description of the office
Election
The president of the Republic is elected by universal, direct and secret suffrage for a mandate of five years.[3]
The election of the president of the Republic takes place by uninominal majority ballot in one round.[5]
The president of the Republic is elected with the majority of the suffrage expressed.[5]
The vote is opened on convocation of the electoral body by decree taken in the Council of Ministers 60 days at least and 75 days at most before the expiration of the mandate of the president in office.[6]
No one may be a candidate for the office of the president of the Republic if they:[7]
are not exclusively of Togolese nationality by birth;
are not 35 years of age on the date of the deposit of the candidature;
do not enjoy all their civil and political rights;
do not present a general state of physical and mental well-being duly declared by three sworn physicians, designated by the Constitutional Court;
do not reside in the national territory for at least 12 months.
The president of the Republic enters office within 15 days which follows the proclamation of the results of the presidential election.[8]
However, following the constitutional reform in 2024, the election system has changed which means that the president is now indirectly elected by the National Assembly.
Oath of office
Before he enters into office, the president of the Republic swears before the Constitutional Court meeting in solemn hearing, in these terms:[9]
Before God and before the Togolese people, sole holders of popular sovereignty, We _____, elected President of the Republic in accordance with the laws of the Republic, solemnly swear.
— to respect and to defend the Constitution that the Togolese people have freely given themselves;
— to loyally fulfil the high functions that the Nation has confided in us.
— to be guided solely by the general interest and the respect of the rights of the human person, to consecrate all our forces to the promotion of development, of the common good, of peace and national unity;
— to preserve the integrity of the national territory;
— to conduct ourselves at all times, as a faithful and loyal servant of the People.
Vacancy
In case of a vacancy of the presidency of the Republic by death, resignation or definitive incapacity, the presidential function is exercised provisionally by the president of the National Assembly.[10]
The vacancy is declared by the Constitutional Court referred to [the matter] by the Government.[10]
The Government convokes the electoral body within sixty (60) days of the opening of the vacancy for the election of a new president of the Republic.[10]
Residences
After independence, the President of Togo used the Palace of the Governors as an office and residence. The Palace was formerly used by both German and French colonial administrators. In 1970, President Gnassingbé Eyadéma moved into a new Presidential Palace built near the Palace of the Governors. Another residence used by the Gnassingbé Eyadéma was the Presidential Residence of Lomé II. In 2006, a new Presidential Palace, financed by China, was inaugurated by President Faure Gnassingbé on the outskirts of Lomé.[11]
^Styled as Chairman of the Insurrection Committee.
^Styled as Chairman of the National Reconciliation Committee.
^Previously named Étienne Eyadéma; changed name on 8 May 1974 due to the policy of Africanization, and to commemorate survival of a crash of his Douglas C-47 Skytrain presidential plane on 24 January 1974.
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