Togolese opposition figure calls Lomé evictions brutal and lacking support measures
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Icilomé
Georges William Kouessan, president of the opposition party Santé du Peuple and a candidate in the 2020 presidential election, criticised the method of the evictions in Lomé on Pyramide TV. He accepts that the State must reclaim road rights-of-way, but regrets the absence of support measures for authorised traders who paid taxes, according to Icilome.
Dr Georges William Kouessan, president of the opposition party Santé du Peuple and a candidate in Togo’s 2020 presidential election, considers the method of the evictions carried out in Lomé brutal. Invited on Sunday 8 November onto the programme "Grand Rendez-vous" on Pyramide TV, he reacted to the operation to clear public roads led by the Greater Lomé governorate.
Without challenging the principle, he believes the traders affected are being treated without consideration. "People had authorisations, they paid taxes, and from one day to the next, they are told to leave with no support measures whatsoever," he said. He acknowledges that the State must be able to reclaim road rights-of-way, but calls on the authorities to show "more empathy" in "a poor country".
Launched in 2023, the operation resumed in recent weeks. The authorities cite security and aesthetic reasons and mention development projects, notably on the beach. Georges William Kouessan is sceptical: "These projects have always been announced and have never been carried out."
His proposal: formalise the informal economy to broaden the tax base, which would have made it possible to relocate the traders to markets or shops built for that purpose. Asked what he would have done had he been elected in 2020, he cites his plan to retrain motorcycle-taxi drivers for other activities.
These remarks follow the announcement on 20 October of three weeks of evictions in Lomé from 2 November.
