RPCV Stephen Grogoza returns to Togo as election observer
Read and comment on this story from the Naples News-Press.com on RPCV Stephen Grogoza who returns to Togo as election observer. During his stint with the Peace Corps in Togo in the late 1970's, Grogoza said he struck up a friendship with a teenager there, Francois Boko. “He was like a little brother. We always kept in touch,” over the years, Grogoza said. The local attorney said he has visited Togo often during the past 10 years and Boko has been a guest in his home in Naples. Boko — after graduating from St. Cyr, the French military academy, and the Sorbonne — is now Togo’s interior and security minister. Boko, 38, invited him to be among the independent observers to make sure there’s no election day high jinks, Grogoza said. Read the story at:
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Naples man to observe Togo election
Attorney worked in African nation
By DENES HUSTY III, dhusty@news-press.com
Naples attorney Stephen Grogoza is scheduled to go to Togo later this month as an independent observer for the African nation’s presidential election.
Many people, Grogoza said, might not be able to find Togo on a map, let alone know that there’s an election there June 1.
But Grogoza, 50, is familiar with the tiny former French colony located on the south coast of West Africa.
As odd as his assignment might seem for someone from Southwest Florida, Grogoza said he’s grown fond of Togo and is knowledgeable about the government and people there.
The election is crucial to the stability of West Africa and the outcome could result in revolution, he said. Grogoza
The road to his being an independent elections observer in Togo began in 1978 when he worked there as a member of the Peace Corps, Grogoza said.
For two years, Grogoza said he helped dig water wells for local towns by blasting through bedrock with dynamite.
“It was hard work, but I came to love the country and its people,” he said.
During his stint with the Peace Corps in Togo, Grogoza said he struck up a friendship with a teenager there, Francois Boko.
“He was like a little brother. We always kept in touch,” over the years, Grogoza said.
The local attorney said he has visited Togo often during the past 10 years and Boko has been a guest in his home in Naples.
Boko — after graduating from St. Cyr, the French military academy, and the Sorbonne — is now Togo’s interior and security minister.
Boko, 38, invited him to be among the independent observers to make sure there’s no election day high jinks, Grogoza said.
In world opinion, past elections in Togo have been considered facades, allowing the incumbent president, Gnassingbe Eyadema, 65, who took control in 1967, to remain — despite several assassination attempts — as Africa’s longest-serving head of state, according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s Web site.
Eyadema, after winning re-election in 1998, promised to step down at the end of his five-year term in line with a two-term constitutional limit.
Togo’s constitution was then changed, allowing Eyadema to run again.
Amnesty International has accused Eyadema’s regime of throwing political opposition members in jail.
The government denies holding political prisoners. Authorities have said people being held in prison are convicted criminals.
Togo courts have also barred a main opposition leader, Gilchrist Olympio, from running for president because he just returned from exile and did not meet the one-year residency requirement.
The observers, including himself, are being invited to lend legitimacy to this election, Grogoza said.
“We’ll make sure there’s no ballot stuffing and that people aren’t barred from the polls,” Grogoza said.
He said he and the other observers will meet the seven candidates, including Eyadema, five days before the election.
After the election, each observer will submit written reports on whether they saw any problems or not, Grogoza said.
Boko, speaking from his office in Lome, the capital of Togo, said the observers will play an important role.
“We need them to see if there are any changes that should be made” in the voting system in Togo, he said.
A voter turnout of 55 percent is forecast for election day, Boko said.
The government has an incentive to run a clean election, Grogoza said. He said future foreign aid from Europe and the United States may depend on it.
The future peace of Togo may also depend on the election outcome, Boko said.
Many Togolese fear that if Eyadema is not re-elected, the government may be fractured and civil war could erupt, Boko said.
Despite criticism of his administration, Eyadema has kept the peace in Togo while nearby countries have been wracked by revolutions and poverty, Grogoza said.
That’s why many Togolese urged Eyadema to run for re-election, Boko said. Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL
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