Joseph Kokou Koffigoh

Joseph Kokou Koffigoh (* 1948 ) was Prime Minister of Togo from 1991 to 1994 .

Political career

Koffigoh is a lawyer and, as an activist in human rights groups, stood in opposition to the authoritarian President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who has been in power since 1967 .

He became head of government on August 27, 1991 when a national conference put a prime minister alongside the president to limit his power. The office of prime minister was abolished in 1961. During the first phase of his reign, his main problem was mutinous soldiers trying to forcibly restore Eyeadéma's power. In October an attempt to kidnap him failed and in November his headquarters were surrounded by tanks. The free presidential elections scheduled for 1992 have been canceled. The conflict between supporters of the president and Koffigoh's government was settled through international mediation.

The president knew how to maintain his position of power with the support of the army and to be confirmed in office on August 25, 1993 with 96.42% of the votes, whereby the elections were boycotted by most of the opposition parties. Koffigoh's tenure ended on April 23, 1994, when opposition politician Edem Kodjo was tasked with forming a coalition government. Koffigoh was elected in February in the first multi-party elections since 1958 as the only member of his party Coordination des Forces Nouvelles (CFN) in parliament. In 1998 he became Foreign Minister in the government of Kwassi Klutse and remained in office until 2000.

As a mediator, he was involved in the 1999 armistice negotiations during the civil war in Guinea-Bissau and in the negotiations in Lomé for a peace agreement between the warring parties in Sierra Leone . In October 2000 he became Minister for Regional Development and Relations with Parliament.

In May 2005 he became chairman of a commission of inquiry to investigate the violent clashes during the presidential elections of April 24, 2005, which Faure Gnassingbé , son of Eyeadéma, who died in February, won.

Web links

• Cabinet list 1998 at Afrique express (French)
• Cabinet list 2000 at Afrique express (French)
• Cabinet list 2002 at Afrique express (French)