Kofi Esaw 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 and diplomat who has served in the government of Togo as Minister of Justice since 2013. He was
Minister of Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
from 2008 to 2010 and subsequently served as diplomatic adviser to President
.
Career
Esaw was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation on 15 September 2008 as part of the government headed by Prime Minister
Gilbert Houngbo
Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo (born 4 February 1961) is a Togolese politician and diplomat who was Prime Minister of Togo from September 2008 to July 2012. . He had previously been the Ambassador of Togo to
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
["Le docteur Mally débarque aux urgences"]
Republicoftogo.com, 16 September 2008 . for four years, beginning on 29 September 2004; while serving as Ambassador to Ethiopia, he was also Togo's Ambassador to the
African Union, which is headquartered in
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
, Ethiopia.
[
Esaw was appointed as Ambassador to Ethiopia in early August 2004. During the diplomatic crisis that followed the death of Togolese President ]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 ...
in February 2005, Esaw defended the succession of Eyadema's son, , at a meeting of the African Union. According to Esaw, the father-son succession, which was widely deemed unconstitutional, was necessary because Togo faced "a very dangerous situation", saying that "there was the prospect of unrest and the only way to avoid the unrest was to take the action we did." The African Union's disapproval of the succession led to its decision to suspend Togo from the organization at the same meeting; Esaw was asked to leave the meeting following the suspension.
Esaw was appointed as Minister of Justice and Relations with the Institutions of the Republic on 17 September 2013."Un nouveau gouvernement au Togo"
République Togolaise website, 17 September 2013 .
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esaw, Kofi
Togolese diplomats
Ambassadors of Togo to Ethiopia
Permanent Representatives of Togo to the African Union
Living people
Foreign ministers of Togo
Government ministers of Togo
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century Togolese people