Yawovi Madji Agboyibo (31 December 1943, Republicoftogo.com, 11 January 2007 .30 May 2020) was 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 attorney and politician. He served as
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
of
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 ...
from September 2006 to December 2007 and was National President of the
Action Committee for Renewal
The Action Committee for Renewal (french: Comité d'Action pour le Renouveau, CAR) is an opposition political party in Togo. Dodji Apévon has led the party since 2008; previously it was led by Yawovi Agboyibo from 1991 to 2008.
History
The Fro ...
(CAR), an opposition political party, from 1991 to 2008. He was the Honorary President of the CAR.
Early life
Agboyibo was born Kouvé,
Yoto Prefecture
Yoto is a Prefectures of Togo, prefecture located in the Maritime Region of Togo. The prefecture seat is located in Tabligbo.
Canton (administrative division), Canton (administrative divisions) of Yoto include Tabligbo, Kouvé, Gboto, Ahépé, To ...
, in 1943. His parents were Soklou Agboyibo and Doafio.
Career
He became a lawyer and was active as an advocate for human rights.Philippe Perdrix "Ce que va faire Agboyibo" Jeuneafrique.com, 24 September 2006 . In the March 1985 parliamentary election, which was held during the single-party rule of 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), he was elected to the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
as an independent,"Me Yawovi AGBOYIBO, enfin Premier Ministre" Etiame.com . winning the seat for Yoto Est constituency with 82.63% of the vote.
In 1987, 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 ...
appointed Agboyibo as President of the National Commission for Human Rights,"Oct 1988 – Local elections-Human rights-Economy Foreign-relations", ''Keesing's Record of World Events'', Volume 34, October 1988 Togo, Page 36200. which was created by the government on 9 June 1987 and inaugurated on 21 October 1987. He served in that position until 1990.
Agboyibo was re-elected to the National Assembly in 1990, serving as a Deputy until the National Assembly was dissolved in 1991. He was also a member of the Togolese League of Human Rights and was President of the Committee of Action against Tribalism and Regionalism from December 1990 to 1991.
Action Committee for Renewal
Agboyibo was a leading participant in the struggle for democracy in the early 1990s and was President of the Front of Associations for Revival (FAR) at that time. He participated in the July–August 1991 National Conference and was subsequently a member of the High Council of the Republic, which acted as the transitional legislature, from 1991 to 1992. He also transformed the FAR into the Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), a political party, in 1991. He was a member of the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
's
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (''Justitia et Pax'') was a pontifical council of the Roman Curia dedicated to "action-oriented studies" for the international promotion of justice, peace, and human rights from the perspective of the ...
from 1990 to 1995, and on 12 May 1993 he was awarded the first
German Africa Prize The German Africa Prize or German Africa Award (german: Deutscher Afrika-Preis) has been awarded annually since 1993 by the (german: Deutsche Afrika Stiftung) to promote peace, democracy, social market economy and human rights. In addition to these ...
.
Although Agboyibo was initially a candidate in the August 1993 presidential election, he announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy and boycotting the election, along with fellow opposition candidate
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 ...
, on 22 August. He and Kodjo withdrew due to concerns about fraud, believing that the number of registered voters—which had sharply increased since 1992—was too high. In the absence of any serious opposition, incumbent President Eyadéma won the election overwhelmingly.
Agboyibo was elected to the National Assembly in the first round of the February 1994 parliamentary election as the CAR candidate in the First Constituency of Yoto-Centre. Following the election, the CAR and its ally, the Kodjo-led
Togolese Union for Democracy
The Togolese Union for Democracy (french: Union togolaise pour la démocratie, UTD) was a political party in Togo.
History
The UTD was formed in 1991 by Edem Kodjo as a breakaway from the former sole legal party, the Rally of the Togolese People. ...
(UTD), held a parliamentary majority, and they proposed Agboyibo as Prime Minister in March 1994. However, the elections for three opposition-held seats (two for the CAR and one for the UTD) were subsequently invalidated, narrowly depriving the alliance of its majority. Eyadéma appointed Kodjo as Prime Minister in April 1994; according to the CAR, Kodjo's acceptance of the post represented a violation of the two parties' agreement, and it refused to participate in Kodjo's government. Agboyibo served as President of the CAR Parliamentary Group during the 1994–1999 parliamentary term.
On 12 August 1997, when Agboyibo was leaving the residence of the United States' ambassador to Togo, his car was stolen and his driver was knocked unconscious in an assault in the
Lomé
Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437
neighborhood of Be-Gbenyedji. In November 1997, Agboyibo was assaulted in
Bafilo
Bafilo is a city in Togo south of Kara and north of Sokode in Tchaoudjo Region.
It is known for its large mosque, wagassi cheese, its weaving industry and the nearby Bafilo Falls.
History
World War I
During World War I, a skirmish took plac ...
before he was to address a meeting of the CAR. He said that his assailants were soldiers and that the authorities were responsible.
On 18 April 1998, Agboyibo was nominated by the CAR as its candidate for the June 1998 presidential election at a national convention of the party in Lomé, becoming the third declared candidate."Third candidate nominated for Togolese presidency" BBC News, 18 April 1998. On this occasion he said that the register of voters was seriously flawed and needed to be reviewed. On 18 June, he and fellow opposition candidate
Gilchrist Olympio
Gilchrist Olympio (born 26 December 1936) is a Togolese politician who was a long-time opponent of the regime of Gnassingbé Eyadéma and was President of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC), Togo's main opposition party from the 1990s til 2013.< ...
of the
Union of the Forces of 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) had actually won the election. According to final results from the Constitutional Court, Agboyibo received 9.54% of the vote, in third place behind Eyadéma and Olympio."CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 40 OF THE COVENANT: Addendum TOGO" (PDF), United Nations International covenant on civil and political rights, CCPR/C/TGO/2001/3, 5 July 2001.
In 1999, Agboyibo was head of the CAR delegation to the Inter-Togolese Dialogue. On 10 January 2001, he called on Eyadéma to dissolve the National Assembly and hold a transparent early parliamentary election in March 2001, in order to fulfill a July 1999 agreement with the opposition. Later in 2001, Agboyibo was tried for defamation of Prime Minister Agbeyome Kodjo; he had allegedly defamed Kodjo in 1998 by saying that Kodjo had participated in organizing a militia group while he was director of the
Lomé
Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437
port. On 3 August 2001, Agboyibo was sentenced to six months in prison and was fined 100,000
CFA franc
The CFA franc (french: franc CFA, , Franc of the Financial Community of Africa, originally Franc of the French Colonies in Africa, or colloquially ; abbreviation: F.CFA) is the name of two currencies, the West African CFA franc, used in eight We ...
s. On 23 August, the
International Federation for 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) called for his release, saying that he had not received a fair trial and noting that the president of the court was also the ruling RPT's representative on the National Electoral Commission. On 27 September, he was additionally charged with having links to a group that allegedly committed crimes in Sedome in 1997. In late November,
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
called for Agboyibo's release. Although an appeal court ruled in favor of Agboyibo regarding the defamation sentence in January 2002, he was not released due to the other charge of criminal complicity. He was finally released on Eyadéma's orders on 14 March 2002, a decision that Eyadéma's office attributed to "the interest of national reconciliation and political appeasement".
Agboyibo was the CAR's candidate in the
presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The pre ...
of 1 June 2003, taking third place with 5.12% of the vote, according to official results. He claimed that fellow opposition candidate
Emmanuel Bob-Akitani
Emmanuel Bob-Akitani (July 18, 1930 UFC website, May 27, 2003 . – May 16, 2011
of the UFC won the election,"Togo Éyadéma se succède à lui-même " ''L'Humanite'', 24 June 2003 ."Déclaration du candidat du CAR au scrutin présidentiel du 1er juin 2003, Me Yawovi Agboyibo" iciLome.com, 4 June 2003 . placing Bob-Akitani's score at 54.80%, his own score at 13.46% (second place), and Eyadéma's score at only 11.03% (fourth place) in a statement on 4 June. Despite this claim, Eyadéma was officially declared the winner, and Agboyibo denounced the election as fraudulent.
Regionally, Agboyibo was President of the Union of African Parties for Democracy and Development from 1996 to 2004 and became Vice-President of the Union of African Parties for Democracy and Development – West Africa in 2005.
He was general coordinator of the opposition during the April 2005 presidential election; on 23 April, the day before the election, which was marked by violence and accusations of fraud, he denounced the election as "an electoral masquerade". On 22 April 2006 he was elected as the consensus choice for the position of President of the Bureau of the Inter-Togolese Dialogue, which ran from 21 April to 20 August 2006.
Prime Minister
His appointment as Prime Minister was announced on 16 September 2006 and he formed a government, composed of 35 ministers, four days later.
In the October 2007 parliamentary election, Agboyibo ran as a CAR candidate in Yoto Prefecture, and he was one of four CAR candidates who won seats in the election.
Following the election, Agboyibo presented his resignation to President
on 13 November 2007, saying that the election marked the end of the mission he had been assigned. It was speculated that he would be reappointed as Prime Minister by Gnassingbé, but on 3 December
of the RPT was appointed as Prime Minister. Agboyibo was succeeded by Mally at a ceremony on 6 December, in which he spoke of his sadness in leaving office. Agboyibo chose not to sit in the National Assembly, leaving his seat to a substitute.
Later career
The CAR held an ordinary congress in October 2008, and at the congress Agboyibo chose to step down as the President of the CAR; he was replaced by Dodji Apévon. It is unusual for party leaders to step down in Togo, and according to Apévon, Agboyibo's decision was "a lesson in humility and democracy that Mr. Agboyibo wanted to impose on the political class". Agboyibo was, however, chosen as the party's candidate for the 2010 presidential election, and he was designated as the Honorary President of the CAR.
On 15 January 2010, Agboyibo was formally invested as the CAR's candidate for the 2010 presidential election. Amidst the election events, Agboyibo dedicated a book, ''Political and Social Governance in Africa, 20 Years After the La Baule Summit: the Case of Togo'' (''Gouvernance politique et sociale en Afrique, 20 ans après le sommet de la Baule, le cas du Togo'') on 20 February 2010. In the book, he criticized Togolese politicians for putting their own profit ahead of the interests of the people; he also emphasized the importance of dialogue and argued that meaningful opposition should not be defined by a refusal to participate in dialogue with the government.
In the presidential election, held on 4 March 2010, Agboyibo placed third, with 2.96% of the vote, according to official results. He placed far behind the top two candidates, President Gnassingbé and fellow opposition leader
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 ...
.
Death
He died in France at the age of 76 years on Saturday 30 May 2020 following a short illness.