The president of the Togolese Council of Ministers, Faure Gnassingbé, turned 59 on June 6, but the Togolese oven was not ready for buns, that is, celebrations. Since the day before, the Togolese youth took to the streets gathered behind the acronym M66 – whose figures refer to the day and month that the president came into the world – to cry out against the arrest of opposition politicians, the high price of electricity or the latest constitutional reform that could keep Gnassingbé in power forever. The riots lasted until June 28. The police repression caused, according to Amnesty International (AI), seven deaths.
Those in Togo have not had as much impact as the more recent ones in Madagascar or Morocco, which I do not talk about here so as not to spoil the work of my colleague Gonzalo Vitón, which you can read on the next page.
These three are the most recent, but these last few years are an example that something is happening on the continent, although the leaders are so obtuse to only deny it – and repress it. In 2024, Kenyans took to the streets to denounce new taxes on bread, diapers, sanitary pads or digital services. The Kenyan Human Rights Commission put the death toll at 39. There were more than 600 detainees.
In July last year, Ugandans publicly denounced corruption and called for the end of Museveni’s eternal rule. What did they get? Harsh police repression and a ban on demonstrations. Also in 2024, Nigerians raised, in all likelihood, the most forceful slogan: “We are hungry.” AI documented the deaths of 21 people. A similar scenario was repeated in Ghana between July 31 and August 6, 2024. People stood up against corruption and the cost of living.
One of the least surprising elements of these calls has to do with the youth profile of the protesters. Although the strength of age and skill in the use of technologies facilitate and multiply their mobilization, we miss the mark if we conclude that this is a child’s thing. Disillusionment with the malpractice of the rulers, the lack of perspective for what is to come, the veneer of corruption that standardizes public life and, as the Nigerians said, hunger, are not just a matter for children, although they are the ones who take to the streets with the greatest impetus.
