Kofi Martin Yamgnane (born 11 October 1945) is a French-

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 and engineer.

Biography

Yamgnane was born in 1945 in

Bassar Bassar is a town in Bassar Prefecture, Kara Region in Togo, situated west of Kara. The town borders Tatale which is in Ghana. The town has a population of 64,888. Culture Bassar was originally a centre for iron Iron () is a chemical elemen ...

. A member of the Bassar ethnic group in central Togo, he attended a missionary school as his early education. In 1957, he enrolled at the St. Joseph College in Lomé, capital of Togo. Yamgnane received his baccalauréat in 1964. Afterward, he moved to France to study engineering. He obtained a degree in mathematics from the

University of Western Brittany The University of Western Brittany (french: Université de Bretagne-Occidentale; UBO) is a French university, located in Brest, in the Academy of Rennes. On a national scale, in terms of graduate employability, the university oscillates between 1 ...

in 1969. Yamgnane obtained French citizenship in 1975. After years of doing engineering work without qualifications, such as designing expressway structures, he enrolled at the

École nationale supérieure des mines de Nancy École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in 1977 and graduated in 1981. In 1983, he joined the town council of a village of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, Saint-Coulitz (less than 400 inhabitants). He lost the election for mayor in the second round as a member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. He became well known in France in 1989 after being elected mayor of Saint-Coulitz, and at this time, one out of only two black mayors in

Metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...

. He created a council of elders, similar to governing bodies in Africa. This initiative won Yamgnane the "National Award of citizenship" in April 1990, and he was named "Breton of the year" by Armor Magazine. A former engineer in the French Bridges and Roads administration, he was Secretary of State of Integration in the French government from 1991 to 1993. The following year, he was elected a Conseiller général of

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

. Yamgnane became a

representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

in the French National Assembly on 1 June 1997, representing Finistère. He was a member of the delegation of the National Assembly to women's rights and equal opportunities between men and women. Yamagnane served on several commissions in the Assembly, including national defense, trade, cultural affairs, finance, constitutional laws, marine transport safety, and children's rights. His term ended on 18 June 2002. After the death of Togolese president Gnassingbe Eyadema in 2005, Yamgnane thought of running for president but decided it was not the right time. He stood as a candidate in the

2010 Togolese presidential election Presidential elections were held in Togo on 4 March 2010. However, his candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Court due to doubts about his identity. His papers showed two different birth dates, 11 October 1945, and 31 December 1945. The October 11 date comes from an affidavit signed by his father on 16 March 1948, while the 31 December date is used by the Togolese government. "All Togolese know around them at least one person in my case. Does this mean that this whole section of the population should be excluded from universal suffrage?" Yamgnane said. He was arrested in October 2014 on the charge of "influence peddling" and tax evasion in the context of the

Christophe Rocancourt Christophe Thierry Daniel Rocancourt, sometimes also called Christopher Rocancourt (born 16 July 1967), is a French impostor and confidence man who scammed affluent people by masquerading in turn as a French nobleman, the heir to the Rockefelle ...

case.

Personal life

Yamgnane is married to Anne-Marie la Bretonne, a retired professor of mathematics. They live in

Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

and have two children. He is friends with Togolese archbishop Denis Amouzou, as the two share an affinity for scouting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamgnane, Kofi 1945 births Living people People from Kara Region Ewe people Togolese emigrants to France Black French politicians Socialist Party (France) politicians Secretaries of State of France Deputies of the 11th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Mayors of places in Brittany People from Finistère Naturalized citizens of France Politicians from Brittany