“Progress happens when courageous and capable leaders seize opportunities to change things for the better” (Harry Truman)
It’s a palace secret. Faure Gnassingbé is a silent president, whose outings are extremely rare. He almost never speaks or rather twice throughout the year, on the occasion of two solemn events: December 31 and April 27, celebration of Independence Day where he delivers messages to the Nation. These moments are sometimes problematic, it often happens that he does not make a solemn outing throughout the year, so he remains silent.
In the neighborhood on the other hand, the leaders like to get in touch with their compatriots, to talk to them, to talk to them regarding subjects that affect the life of the nation. In Benin, Patrice Talon seems to be an expert in the field. He regularly makes public outings, meets with social partners, gives interviews to both international and local media, makes the speech on the state of the nation, etc.
In Burkina Faso, which came to power barely four months ago, the President of the Transition, Captain Ibrahim Traoré has made some very notable outings.
In Togo, on the other hand, in 18 years of power, Faure Gnassingbé is completely erased. He was most famous for his incompetence. Either the Togolese number 1 is bunkered in his palace in Lomé II, or he is flying through the air. It is only during a few official events or during the electoral campaigns that he rubs shoulders with the populations to afford walkregardings, or to harangue the voters.
Are we heading towards a paradigm shift, a significant change in the way of governing in Togo? Will things move in the right direction from now on? On January 24, 2023, Faure Gnassingbé held a discussion meeting in Kara with the regional directors of the decentralized services of the Central, Kara and Savanes regions.
During this meeting, he spoke to say what he expects of them. “One thing is irreplaceable, it is the presence of the State throughout the national territory, the control of the State of its territories, of its localities. And this is your mission. Whether you are in agriculture, in social action, education, in health, it is through these basic social services that our populations feel the action of the State”, launched Faure Gnassingbé to his audience.
For him, the action of the State does not consist in welcoming the President of the Republic warmly. “It’s not because the head of state came and we waved our hands, that’s not the action of the state. State action is our ability to meet the most basic needs of populations. Through you, we have to feel the state, we have to live the state,” he continued.
These meetings, we learn, will be periodic and intended to share the orientations and priorities of the government and to collect in return the contributions of the regional directors to increase efficiency and public action in Togo. Will this mean that we will henceforth see Faure Gnassingbé make regular outings and take the floor to address the existential questions of the populations, to talk regarding education, health, unemployment, purchasing power, the fight once morest social inequalities in Togo…?
It is a way of governing to which he has not accustomed the Togolese since he broke into their lives in 2005. Better late than never! We hope that this new dynamic, this change of management at the top of the State will give new impetus to our country.
Medard Ametepe
Source: Liberty / libertetogo.info