Reportage
Togo: 60 years after his death, supporters of President Olympio pay tribute to him in Benin
Audio 01:20
Former President of Togo Sylvanus Olympio in 1962. © AP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
This Friday, January 13 marked the 60th anniversary to the day of the death of the first elected president of Togo, Sylvanus Olympio.
To mark this date, his supporters made a pilgrimage to his grave.
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With our special correspondent in Agoué,
Peter Sassou Dogbé
The son, Gilchrist Olympio, was not there.
Two different delegations made the pilgrimage this Friday morning to Agouè in Beninese territory for the laying of wreaths.
First of all, the members of the Union of Forces for Change, Gilchrist Olympio's party, all dressed in white: among them Naty de Souza, for whom it has been a ritual for several years.
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Every year, I usually come to attend the commemoration of the anniversary of President Olympio's death.
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To read also: Togo: vigil in memory of ex-president Sylvanus Olympio, assassinated 60 years ago
Then, the "pyramid women", an association of women from civil society, all dressed in black, also laid a wreath.
Miranda Aziakpor, the spokesperson for the delegation.
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When he was alive, he fought for the independence of this country, he worked with the brave women, so we too, as Togolese women, pyramid women, we want to put our feet in the footsteps of our greats. -mothers to pay tribute to him, to tell him that all the work he was able to accomplish with our grandmothers, we too, we have woven our code on the old code.
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At midday, all supporters and political heirs of Sylvanus Olympio gathered around the Archbishop of Lomé at the cathedral for a mass for the repose of his soul.
Then, members of the National Alliance for Change met at rue Vauban, the place where Sylvanus Olympio was shot, for a libation.
In addition to this ceremony in Beninese lands, a pontifical mass was also celebrated at the cathedral of Lomé by the archbishop.
During this mass, the former president of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, between 2009 and 2012, Mgr Nicodème Anani Barrigah took the opportunity to challenge the political actors.
From this rostrum, I take this opportunity to ask these questions that assail the minds of so many Togolese: hasn't the time arrived after 60 years for us to look together at the story of Sylvanus Olympio in a more dispassionate in order to consider our future together.
Hasn't the time come for the mortal remains of our first president to finally rest in his home, in the land he fought for?
Archbishop Nicodemus Anani Barrigah
Peter Dogbe
To (re) listen ► Guest Africa: Assassination of Sylvanus Olympio, former president of Togo: can the French archives speak?
Why does the body of the father of the Togolese nation rest in Benin?
Since 1963, the remains of the first president of Togo have rested in Agoué, a Beninese town located on the coast just at the border.
A place that owes nothing to chance: this is where the ancestors of Sylvanus Olympio, who came from Brazil, settled in the 19th century.
After his assassination, his family transferred his body there clandestinely, according to Godwin Tété, author of several books on the history of Togo and a biography of the president.
The writer argues that given the very tense political context of the time, it seemed imprudent to bury the head of state on Togolese soil.
A situation always complex during the presidency of Gnassingbé Eyadema, who immediately claimed to the press to be the assassin of Sylvanus Olympio, before returning to his statement in 1992.
Twenty years later, while Faure Gnassingbé has succeeded his father at the head of the country since 2005, a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission recommends the repatriation of the body of the father of the Togolese nation.
But his family always opposed it.
Joined by RFI, Jean-Sylvanus Olympio, nephew of the late president, explains that no apology has been presented by the Eyadéma family, an essential condition for the first Togolese president to rest in his country.
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