Gilchrist Olympio (born 26 December 1936) is a
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
lese politician who was a long-time opponent of the regime of
Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Gnassingbé Eyadéma (; born Étienne Gnassingbé, 26 December 1935 – 5 February 2005) was the president of Togo from 1967 until his death in 2005, after which he was immediately succeeded by his son, Faure Gnassingbé.
Eyadéma participated i ...
and was President of the
Union of Forces for Change
The Union of Forces for Change (french: Union des Forces du Changement) is an opposition political party in Togo. The President of the UFC was Gilchrist Olympio (UFC), Togo's main opposition party from the 1990s til 2013.
[Profile at UFC website]
. Olympio is the son of
Sylvanus Olympio
Sylvanus Épiphanio Olympio (; 6 September 1902 – 13 January 1963) was a Togolese politician who served as prime minister, and then president, of Togo from 1958 until his assassination in 1963. He came from the important Olympio family, wh ...
, Togo's first President, who was assassinated in a 1963 coup. He is now an ally of the current regime of Faure Gnassingbe, the son of the late President.
Early life, business career, and early political career
Olympio was born in
Lomé
Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437 to a family of
Ewe,
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
and
Afro-Brazilian
Afro-Brazilians ( pt, afro-brasileiros; ) are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry (see "Black people#Brazil, preto"). Most members of another group of people, Pardo Brazilians, multiracial Brazilians or ''pardos'', may also have a ...
descent. He studied mathematics and philosophy in the United States, and in the United Kingdom at the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
and Oxford University, where he received a doctorate
[Michael Tobias]
"Le cas Olympio"
Jeuneafrique.com, 11 November 2007 . in economics.[ He worked at the United Nations in fiscal and financial studies from 1963 to 1964 and then as an economist for the ]International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
(IMF) from 1964 to 1970 and later returned to Africa to pursue business. Entering the Togolese political opposition, he was sentenced to death twice ''in absentia'' by the regime of Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Gnassingbé Eyadéma (; born Étienne Gnassingbé, 26 December 1935 – 5 February 2005) was the president of Togo from 1967 until his death in 2005, after which he was immediately succeeded by his son, Faure Gnassingbé.
Eyadéma participated i ...
.[ Accused of plotting a coup together with various others, a warrant for his arrest was issued on 13 July 1979, but he could not be imprisoned because he was not in Togo.
]
Political career: 1991–2009
Olympio returned to Togo in July 1991["Historique du mouvement patriotique togolais"]
UFC website . and participated in the Sovereign National Conference (''Conférence Nationale Souveraine''),[ which was held in July–August 1991.][ The conference put in place a new government and a transitional parliament.
He founded the Union of Forces for Change (''Union des forces pour le changement''), a federation of parties, on 1 February 1992.][ On 5 May 1992, his convoy was attacked in an ambush in Soudou, in the north of Togo;][ 12 people were killed,][ and Olympio himself was seriously injured, spending a year recovering in hospitals in France and the United Kingdom.][ Following the attack, Olympio lived in exile in Paris.][Nick Tattersall]
"Exiled opposition chief to run for president"
Reuters (''IOL''), 3 March 2005. An investigation by the International Federation of Human Rights
The International Federation for Human Rights (french: Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme; FIDH) is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international h ...
(FIDH) found that Eyadéma's son Ernest Gnassingbé was in charge of the commandos who perpetrated the attack.[
Prior to the August 1993 presidential election, Olympio rejected the choice of ]Edem Kodjo
Édouard Kodjovi "Edem" Kodjo (May 23, 1938 – April 11, 2020), was a Togolese politician and diplomat. He was Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity from 1978 to 1983; later, in Togo, he was a prominent opposition leader after t ...
as the sole candidate of the Collective of Democratic Opposition (COD II), and on 23 July 1993, was designated as the UFC's presidential candidate.["DÉMOCRATISATION À LA TOGOLAISE"]
("CHRONOLOGIE"), Tètè Tété, 1998 (diastode.org) . He was, however, disqualified from the election for non-compliance with medical certificates.[ He was a candidate in the disputed June 1998 presidential election, receiving 34.10% of the vote according to official results, in second place behind Eyadéma.
Olympio claimed to have won the 1998 election, however, and demanded that the election be held over again; he also wanted the March 1999 parliamentary election, which was boycotted by the opposition, to be held over again. He initially refused to attend the Inter-Togolese Dialogue held in Lomé in mid-1999 due to security concerns, but on 26 July 1999 he arrived in Lomé from Ghana to participate. Although the dialogue involved many political parties, Olympio demanded exclusive and direct talks between the UFC and Eyadéma's party, the ]Rally of the Togolese People
The Rally of the Togolese People (french: Rassemblement du Peuple Togolais, RPT) was the ruling political party in Togo from 1969 to 2012. It was founded by President Gnassingbé Eyadéma and headed by his son, President Faure Gnassingbé, after t ...
(RPT), regarding the 1998 election. This did not happen, and other opposition parties complained that they would be marginalized by such talks between the UFC and the RPT. Olympio consequently returned to Ghana after spending only hours in Togo.
Under the terms of a 2002 constitutional amendment, all presidential candidates were required to have lived in Togo for at least one year prior to the election. This created a legal barrier to Olympio's candidacy in subsequent elections, since he had been living outside of Togo since 1992.[ In 2003, Olympio was deemed ineligible to run in the June 2003 presidential election by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have a certificate of residency and a recent receipt of tax payments. On 26 April 2003, Olympio returned to Togo, saying that he did not have any taxable income in Togo. Olympio appealed the electoral commission's decision to the Constitutional Court, but it ruled against him on 6 May. , the First Vice-President of the UFC, ran in place of Olympio; Eyadéma won the election.
After Eyadéma died in office in February 2005, Olympio said on 3 March 2005 that he had been chosen as the UFC candidate for the early presidential election that would be held as a result of Eyadéma's death.][ He was nevertheless barred from running, and Bob-Akitani again ran unsuccessfully as the UFC candidate in the April 2005 election.
Olympio campaigned across the country for the UFC in the October 2007 parliamentary election;]["Olympio souffrant ?"]
Republicoftogo.com, 14 October 2007 . his campaigning including a visit to Kara
Kara or KARA may refer to:
Geography Localities
* Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture
* Kára, Hungary, a village
* Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township
* Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province
* Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...
, Eyadéma's native area, on 9 October, which was considered unprecedented. On election day (14 October) he was reportedly exhausted and unable to vote for health reasons, leaving another to vote for him.[
At the UFC's Second Ordinary Congress, Olympio was re-elected as National President of the UFC on 19 July 2008; he was also unanimously chosen as the party's candidate for the 2010 presidential election. Olympio said on this occasion that he accepted the "responsibility to lead the Togolese people to victory", and he denounced the RPT regime, saying that it had brought Togo to ruin through four decades of mismanagement and repression. He ultimately withdrew his candidacy, citing health reasons, and was replaced by ]Jean-Pierre Fabre
Jean-Pierre Fabre (born 2 June 1952) is a Togolese politician and the President of Togo's main opposition party, the National Alliance for Change (''Alliance Nationale pour le Changement'', ANC). He served for years as Secretary-General of the Un ...
as the UFC candidate.
2010 accord with the ruling party
In 2010, in the aftermath of the presidential election, while the FRAC leaders and activists demonstrated for several weeks to claim victory for Jean-Pierre Fabre
Jean-Pierre Fabre (born 2 June 1952) is a Togolese politician and the President of Togo's main opposition party, the National Alliance for Change (''Alliance Nationale pour le Changement'', ANC). He served for years as Secretary-General of the Un ...
, Gilchrist Olympio signed a political agreement for participation in a government of national recovery in a spirit of power sharing with the ruling party. This agreement, which granted seven ministerial portfolios to the UFC, caused an outcry among UFC activists, who considered it treachery. This unilateral decision taken without consultation with the national office of the party caused a severe crisis in the party. After an unsuccessful attempt by Fabre and allies to eject Olympio from UFC, the National Alliance for Change
The National Alliance for Change (french: Alliance Nationale pour le Changement, abbreviated ANC) is a social-democratic party in Togo, led by Jean-Pierre Fabre. The party emerged from a split within the Union of Forces for Change (UFC) followi ...
(ANC) led by Jean-Pierre Fabre and his companions was created in October 2010.
End of political Prestige
In the aftermath of 2013 legislative election, Fabre's ANC emerged as the main opposition party when its coalition (''Sauvons le Togo'') won 19 seats in the National Assembly. Olympio's UFC lost the electorate and won just three seats. Olympio remains President of the UFC but his standing in Togo's politics has become ambiguous, as he endorsed neither candidate in the 2015 presidential election.
References
External links
Profile of Olympio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olympio, Gilchrist
1936 births
Living people
Togolese economists
Togolese people of Ghanaian descent
Togolese democracy activists
Union of Forces for Change politicians
Children of national leaders
21st-century Togolese people