Gnassingbe eyadema biography of mahatma

1937-2005

President of Togo

General Gnassingbé Eyadéma was one of the world's longest-serving national leaders, having run the West African nation of Togo from 1967 to his death in 2005.

Eyadéma's hold on presidential power in Togo was consolidated by both force and by political machination in a career that included military coups, suspicious murders, assassination attempts on opposition leaders, and dramatic appeals to "national unity" at the expense of free expression.

While other self-imposed rulers in Africa bowed to demands for multiparty democracy—most often relinquishing power in the process—Eyadéma retained his hold on the Togolese government in spite of national unrest and international censure.

Even a 1993 general election, which Eyadéma won by a large margin, seemed nothing more than a deceptive show designed to guarantee the general's continued power. Africa Report contributor Colleen L