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Towards Lifting EU Sanctions

Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
NEWS
May 26, 2004
Posted to the web May 26, 2004

Did Eyadema bite more than he can chew?
President Gnassingbé Eyadema has once againc aught his critics flat footed when
he voluntary submitted tothe EU22 wide ranging democratic reforms in April
2004.
Political bird watchers here who were caught wide-eyed are still trying to come
to terms with the latest Eyadema political pull out which has produced a
knockout effect on his opponents.
In a way, the latest baffling political initiative to fly the kite of dialogue
with the Togo opposition appears to respond positively to previous demands by
the Togo radical opposition parties for more transparency, good governance,
democracy and human rights.
But this has not been the case in the past when their demands fell on deaf
ears.
So what is the secret behind the latest change of heart by President Eyadema?
Our reporter Ebow Godwin tries to get to the bottom of the matter.
Independent observers in Lomé believe strongly that the present olive branch by
President Eyadema, which has baffled even his arch-opponents, may have been
influenced by two major factors, external economic, and internal political
pressures.
On the economic front, the independent observers believe that President Eyadema
was naturally responding to the biting effects of the EU sanctions imposed on
Togo since 1993.
The EU accuses President Eyadema for showing lack of progress in democracy and
human rights under the old ACP-EU Lomé Convention now revised into the new
Cotonou Accords of 2002.
Even though Togo's smart economic managers have tried to put up a brave face
against the odds, they are the first to admit that they have had a difficult
time trying, to balance the rather wilting national budget on an economic
shoestring.
Consequently the EU sanctions have brought the struggling Togolese economy on a
downward spin and on its bended knees with the government grappling hard to pay
workers mounting salary arrears, pension benefits, student allowances, not to
talk about acute shortages of drugs in hospitals.
Reliable sources say that many Togolese foreign missions have also been hard
hit by the EU sanctions, and are on the verge of being closed down unless
something drastic is done quickly.
Already from the balance sheet, Togo is believed to have lost more than a
staggering 800 billion CFA Francs in terms of bilateral economic aid with the
EU under the Lomé ACP-EU Convention, and its commodity Stabex arrangements.
Observers here point out that the resultant spin-offs have impacted negatively
on Togo to create huge deficits on the internal national debt. As a result Togo
needs urgent injection of external aid to stabilise the fluctuating economic
fortunes of Togo.
Under the circumstances, President Gnassingbé Eyadema has no other choice but
swallow the bitter pill to save Togo from the brink of the economic precipice.
Simply put the situation has become desperate.
On the political arena, independent analysts have been careful to point out
that Togo has held eight democratic elections since 1991 when the democratic
process began. These include three Presidential elections in 1993, 1998, and
the year 2003 which the opposition either boycotted or failed to recognise.
As a result the blistering acrimonious standoff between President Eyadema and
the traditional opposition groups has led to a state of paralysing permanent
crisis, which require quick remedial action.
According to analysts, President Eyadema currently enjoying the stature of an
elderly world statesman, will not like to go down in history, after 37 years in
power, as a leader who left behind him the legacy of a dismembered nation
inflicted with chaos, and caught up in the vortex of a tattered economy.

   

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