Violence dogs Togolese election

LOME – Vote counting was complete and calm was restored here yesterday after a violence-marred presidential election left three dead amid claims from both Togo’s main parties of massive fraud.

An official of the national electoral commission said results would not be announced before today, as only 14 per cent of returns had been received from the local commissions. Reports of stolen and burned ballot boxes and a series of fraud attempts were the spark that ignited the already tense atmosphere after voters turned out in force Sunday to elect a successor to Gnassingbe Eyadema, hardline ruler for nearly 38 years.Voters had a choice essentially between the Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) candidate Faure Gnassingbe, 39-year-old son of the late leader, and his main challenger Emmanuel Akitani Bob, 74, representing a radical opposition coalition, the Union of Forces for Change (UFC).An uneasy calm returned yesterday to the Be neighbourhood, an opposition stronghold which was the scene of much of the violence, as police patrolled streets still strewn with the remains of makeshift barricades.Hospital and diplomatic sources put the death toll at three with 20 injured, some with bullet wounds.Ahead of the worst of the violence the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan praised Togolese voters for their high and peaceful turnout and reiterated support “for the important facilitation role played by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) in helping Togo organise a peaceful and credible poll.””As the population awaits the official results, the secretary general appeals once again for calm and urges the parties to refer any electoral disputes to the appropriate authorities as provided for in the electoral code,” the statement read.Ecowas, which had led international pressure to force the vote after Gnassingbe tried to step straight into his later father’s shoes with army backing, said it was “too soon” for its 150 monitors to rule whether there had been irregularities.Overnight Sunday tensions ran high in areas of the tiny west African state’s capital, where opposition supporters wielding machetes erected barricades to protest alleged irregularities.A police officer told AFP that troops fired shots in four capital districts, including Be.- Nampa-AFPReports of stolen and burned ballot boxes and a series of fraud attempts were the spark that ignited the already tense atmosphere after voters turned out in force Sunday to elect a successor to Gnassingbe Eyadema, hardline ruler for nearly 38 years.Voters had a choice essentially between the Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) candidate Faure Gnassingbe, 39-year-old son of the late leader, and his main challenger Emmanuel Akitani Bob, 74, representing a radical opposition coalition, the Union of Forces for Change (UFC).An uneasy calm returned yesterday to the Be neighbourhood, an opposition stronghold which was the scene of much of the violence, as police patrolled streets still strewn with the remains of makeshift barricades.Hospital and diplomatic sources put the death toll at three with 20 injured, some with bullet wounds.Ahead of the worst of the violence the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan praised Togolese voters for their high and peaceful turnout and reiterated support “for the important facilitation role played by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) in helping Togo organise a peaceful and credible poll.””As the population awaits the official results, the secretary general appeals once again for calm and urges the parties to refer any electoral disputes to the appropriate authorities as provided for in the electoral code,” the statement read.Ecowas, which had led international pressure to force the vote after Gnassingbe tried to step straight into his later father’s shoes with army backing, said it was “too soon” for its 150 monitors to rule whether there had been irregularities.Overnight Sunday tensions ran high in areas of the tiny west African state’s capital, where opposition supporters wielding machetes erected barricades to protest alleged irregularities.A police officer told AFP that troops fired shots in four capital districts, including Be.- Nampa-AFP

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