Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbé is facing growing pressure follow­ing a government clampdown on pro­tests calling for his resignation over recent changes in the constitution that could effectively keep him in power indefinitely.

Activists on Tuesday condemned the arrest and alleged maltreatment of dozens of people following staged protests late last week in Togo’s capital, Lomé, and on social media.

The Togolese leader, who has ruled since 2005 after the death of his father, was sworn in as Presi­dent of the Council of Ministers in May. The powerful role has no official term limits, and he is eligi­ble to be re-elected by parliament indefinitely.

Opposition politicians have denounced the move as a “consti­tutional coup.”

Around half of the 80 protesters who were arrested were released late Monday. However, at least 25 remain in custody, a local rights group said, and urging authorities to release the others.

“What we know is that several people were beaten during their arrest,” Aimé Adi, director of Amnesty International’s office in Togo, told The Associated Press.

In addition to the release of the remaining detainees, “what the Togolese now want is the end of this regime, which can no longer offer anything to the people after 20 years of absolute and repressive power of Faure Gnassingbé,” said a coalition of political groups known as “Hands Off My Constitution”.

Demonstrations are rare in Togo as they have been banned in the country since 2022, following a deadly attack at Lome’s main mar­ket. But the latest change in gov­ernment structure has been widely criticised in a region threatened by rampant coups and other threats to democracy.

Public prosecutor Talaka Mawa­ma has defended the arrests and described the protests as “part of a revolt against the institutions of the Republic.”

—Africa News

 South Africans ex­pressed dismay on Thurs­day at how U.S. Presi­dent Donald Trump’s false claims of a white genocide dominated a conversation with President Cyril Ramaphosa, and many wondered if his trip to Washington was worth the trouble.

Ramaphosa included popular white South African golfers in his delegation and he had hoped talks with Trump in the White House on Wednesday would reset relations with the United States, which have nosedived since the U.S. leader took office in January.

But Trump spent most of the conversation confronting his visitor with false claims that South Africa’s white minority farmers are being systematically murdered and having their land seized.

“He didn’t get Zelenskyed. That’s what we have to hang onto (He) did not get personally insulted by the world’s most horrible duo of play­ground bullies,” Rebecca Davis of the national Daily Maverick wrote.

At a February White House meet­ing, Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, calling him ungrateful for U.S. military aid, and Zelenskiy heatedly tried to argue his case.

For some, though, Ramaphosa’s cool composure raised the question of what was achieved by his having subjected himself to the onslaught.

“I don’t think it was the right call. I don’t think we need to explain our­selves to USA,” 40-year-old Sobelo Motha, a member of a trade union, said on the streets of Johannesburg.

“We … we know there’s no white genocide. So for me, it was pointless exercise.”

The South African president arrived prepared for an aggressive reception given actions in recent months by Trump, who has canceled aid to South Africa, offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners, expelled the country’s ambassador and criti­cised its genocide court case against Israel.

But throughout, Trump wanted only to discuss the treatment of white South Africans, playing a video and leafing through articles that he said proved his allegations.

—Reuters

 A kenyan police officer deployed to Haiti to assist in combating violent gangs was killed during a con­frontation with one of the gangs, according to Kenyan officials on Sunday.

The incident occurred in the Artibonite region, where Kenyan forces were engaged in operations to address gang violence.

The Kenyan mission reported that the officers were responding to a request for assistance from residents in Pont-Sonde.

The officer was airlifted for medical treatment but succumbed to his injuries, as stated by God­frey Otunge, the commander of the Kenyan contingent in Haiti.

Following the shooting, the officers pursued the assailants. Mission representative Jack Ombaka expressed gratitude to hospital personnel and Salvador­an forces for their support after the incident.

“This is the sacrifice our brave officer made — he lost his life while defending the people of Haiti,” Ombaka remarked.

The Gran Grif gang is known to dominate the area.

This loss is a setback for efforts to control Haiti’s gangs, which have been rampant since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

Kenya has deployed hundreds of officers to support Haiti’s struggling law enforcement, with an additional 200 officers arriving in February to join over 600 already present, as part of a multinational force that includes personnel from Jamaica, Guate­mala, and El Salvador.

—Africa News