TOGO : Endless troubles within the CAR

In Togo, the Committee for Renewal Action (CAR), a party founded by the late Me Yawovi Agboyibo, has recently lost its national secretary, Dr. Alex Edoh, as two factions vie for leadership within the political organization. Following a contested election, Robert Yao Daté was elected to lead an executive committee that seems unable to escape ongoing problems.

The party has lost one of its influential members in the person of Dr. Alex Edoh. A fervent supporter of Robert Yao Daté’s election as the party’s leader, he resigned from the party on January 19th due to internal conflicts. Dr. Alex Edoh, the former national secretary of the disputed office, announced his permanent withdrawal from the party through a letter addressed to its president. « Due to profound divergences on the functioning of the party and true to my principles, I hereby inform you of my resignation from the Committee for Renewal Action (CAR) », he wrote.

Since late October, Alex Edoh had distanced himself from the party. At that time, rumors were already circulating that there was a rift between the national secretary and the president, Yao Daté. Such discord likely fueled dissensions within the political organization, plagued by electoral ambitions on one side and an insatiable thirst for leadership on the other. In this atmosphere conducive to implosion, the actions of another member, Nicolas Kokou Agbo, the party’s 2nd vice-president, also sparked controversy.

Alex Edoh had repeatedly warned that the party was not functioning well, proposing crisis resolution strategies on several occasions. However, the CAR reached a point where even meetings of the political bureau were boycotted by most members, expressing dissatisfaction with the partnership formed by the president and the 2nd vice-president.

With all attempts to bring the dissenting branch back to reason exhausted after the contested congress on May 27, 2023, Alex Edoh had no choice but to resign. The CAR is now dangerously on the verge of fragmentation with this latest departure. Prior to Alex Edoh, another member, Togbui Sylvain Dagban, had also resigned from the party for similar reasons.

Juste Ako.