‘He just wanted to play football`: A family mourns a 15-year-old as Togo cracks down on protests
LOME, Togo (AP) — The family courtyard where Jacques Koami Koutoglo used to play football with his cousins in a working-class neighborhood in Togo ‘s capital now sits silent. The ball he once kicked around lies deflated beside a bundle of firewood.
“Jacques died for Togo, ” his uncle, Koutoglo Kossi Mawuli, said quietly, eyes heavy with grief.
The 15-year-old is one of several people who died during mass protests in the West African nation against constitutional changes that many fear will cement President Faure Gnassingbé’s grip on power — and lengthen a ruling dynasty that has lasted over half a century.
The 59-year-old Gnassingbé, who has ruled since 2005 after his father’s death, was sworn in as president of the Council of Ministers in May. The executive body was created last year with little notice by a parliament whose term had just expired, and Gnassingbé swiftly signed off on the constitutional change despite public outcry. Новата роля няма граници на периода...
Прочетете целия текст »
