Togo: opposition leans on ECOWAS court ruling and launches “Generation Togo Manifesto” to demand a transition

Through this memorandum made public in Lomé, the signatories are demanding the opening of an inclusive political transition, a return to the 1992 Constitution and the departure of President Faure Gnassingbé.

A legal argument drawn from the ECOWAS Court

To justify their demands, the opposition forces are relying on a recent ruling by the ECOWAS Court of Justice concerning Togo’s constitutional revision of March 25, 2024.

The regional court ruled that the amendment amounted to an “unconstitutional change of government” within the meaning of Article 23 of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.

Although the ruling does not have the automatic legal effect of directly forcing the Togolese state to repeal its reform, it gives the opposition a major political and diplomatic lever. The court also declared inadmissible complaints based on the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and did not find any proven violation of the right to participate in the April 2025 elections.

The shift to a parliamentary system at the heart of the dispute

This new political offensive is part of the criticism voiced since the adoption of the 2024 reform. By moving Togo from a semi-presidential system to a parliamentary one, the revised text removed the presidential election by direct universal suffrage.

According to the signatories of the “Generation Togo Manifesto”, this institutional change allows President Faure Gnassingbé to extend his hold on power under a new legal framework, justifying the need for a national dialogue to redefine the rules of the political game.