Togo’s
Constitutional Court, on Thursday, confirmed incumbent President, Faure
Gnassingbe’s victory in the March 4 election which opposition leaders
said was rigged. Sporadic demonstrations erupted in Togo’s capital after
the results of the vote were announced on March 6, although the
protests were mostly peaceful.

The election was
widely seen as a test for democracy in the region, following a coup in
Niger and violent protests over delayed polls in Ivory Coast.

Post-election violence in Togo’s 2005 poll, which allowed Gnassingbe
to succeed his father after nearly four decades of dictatorship, killed
as many as 500 people.