Photo: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images

Voter registration ends today for general elections in Togo.

Seeking to unseat autocratic President Faure Gnassingbe, the Togolese opposition parties have made a major push to register all their supporters prior to any potential elections. President Gnassingbe was handed his office in 2005 after the death of his father President Gnassingbe Eyadema.

Togo’s 2018 elections saw massive waves of violence sweep the country with the military actively attacking opposition protesters. The opposition had boycotted the 2018 election citing irregularities and taken to the streets prompting the crisis. Ghanaian and Guinean mediation managed to calm violence and called for a new electoral system with term limits to prevent future conflict, but this was rejected.

Expect a large number of opposition voters to register today as Togolese grow tired of the Gnassingbe political dynasty which has ruled the country since 1967. Nevertheless, it is unlikely President Gnassingbe will release power. Protests in 2018 ended with the President maintaining complete control over his office and electoral process with no real repercussions.

2023 elections are instead likely to be tampered with heavily. Therefore, today’s opposition registration surge may also provide good opportunity to register fake or dead voters to stuff future ballots.