AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO SOKODE, TOGO'S MUSLIM

UNCLAS LOME 000353 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDING CAPTION) SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON EAID SCUL TO SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO SOKODE, TOGO'S MUSLIM HEARTLAND AND SECOND LARGEST CITY ¶1. (U) Summary. During a visit to Sokode in north-central Togo, Ambassador inaugurated veral small projects, met with local officials, opposition leaders, and the Muslim community, and gave an interview to the main VOA affiliate in Togo, which is based in Sokode. Opposition representatives in Sokode, were critical of their national leaderships for disunity among the opposition ranks. End Summary. Self-Help and Democracy and Human Rights Funds: Live and Well -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) Ambassador paid an initial visit to Togo,s second largest city, Sokode, March 14-16. The centerpiece of the visit was the inauguration of two Democracy and Human Rights Fund (DHRF) projects in Sokode. The first is a project to educate and help find alternative sources of income for former practitioners of female circumcision, an illegal practice mainly confined in Togo to Sokode and the surrounding region. The NGO sponsoring the project is the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (CIAF),a mainly Muslim organization whose regional president is Mrs. Issa Toure. (Mrs. Toure,s husband is the Spiritual Leader of the Muslim Community of Sokode.) The second project launched is a youth education campaign on democracy and religious freedom, co-sponsored by the local YMCA and Union of Young Christians. ¶3. (U) Both inaugurations received substantial media coverage and were attended by local community and political leaders. Ambassador shared the dais at both ceremonies with the Prefect of Tchaoudjo, which includes Sokode. The Prefects of the neighboring Prefectures of Blitta and Tchamba, areas where female circumcision is also widely practiced, were present at the first ceremony. (Note: Prefectures are the main administrative units of Togo. Roughly akin to counties, Togo,s 30 prefectures are grouped into 5 regions. The role of the regions, currently weak, is supposed to grow under a decentralization plan that has been adopted but is not yet implemented. Sokode is the capital of Central Region. End note.) ¶4. (U) En route to Sokode, Ambassador stopped at the town of Datcha, south of Atakpame in Plateaux Region, to inaugurate a junior high school classroom block whose construction was supported by Special Self-Help funds. The inauguration was attended by over a thousand people. The Prefect of Ogou, where Datcha is located, presided over the event. The project was inspired by a similar project completed with the assistance of two Peace Corps Volunteers, using Peace Corps Partnership funds. Meeting with Prefect Focuses on Poverty, Reconciliation -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) During Ambassador,s courtesy call on the Prefet of Tchaoudjo (Sokode),the latter described the challenges of governing a provincial city and prefecture in a resource-poor environment. He described urban waste management as his biggest municipal problem (Note: In Togo, Sokode is not alone in this regard. End Note.),followed by storm run-off in the rainy season. Diversifying the economy beyond transportation in this important crossroads and transit center, is the biggest economic challenge. While agriculture is the largest employer in the prefecture, the commercialization of agriculture products is severely constrained by the lack of agro-industries, particularly with regard to preservation and storage technologies. ¶6. (SBU) In light of the widespread violence that affected Sokode in the wake of last year,s flawed elections, Ambassador encouraged the Prefect to take a pro-active role in fostering reconciliation among the city,s citizens. In this regard, he noted the large number of houses owned by opposition supporters that had been damaged or destroyed. Why not sponsor community rebuilding days, whereby everyone would pitch in to repair the damages? The Prefect acknowledged the need for reconciliation and said he would take the idea on board. Muslim Leadership: We Are Peaceful -------------- ¶7. (U) Ambassador spent an hour with the leadership of Sokode,s Muslim community, including the principal Imam of Sokode and the Spiritual Leader of the Muslim Community of Sokode. The meeting took place at the latter,s home. They claimed that over 90 percent of the population of Sokode and Tchaoudjo is Muslim, owing to the large number of ethnic Cotocolis in the area. (Note: The Cotocoli, principally Muslim, migrated to present-day Togo from what is now Burkina HEARTLAND AND SECOND LARGEST CITY Faso in the 17th century. End note.) ¶8. (SBU) The Sokode-based Muslims claimed preeminence in matters affecting the personal and spiritual lives of all of Togo,s Muslims. They complained that the Togolese Muslim Union, based in Lome, occasionally oversteps its authority in these areas. They repeatedly told Ambassador that Togolese Muslims are peaceful, eschew violence, and live side-by-side in harmony with Togo,s other religious and ethnic groups. Opposition: More Unity Needed -------------- ¶9. (SBU) In a two-hour meeting with representatives of the principal opposition parties, including the UFC, CAR, and CDPA, Ambassador was struck by the significant degree of cohesion and unity among the groups. For example, a phone call to one member of the group was all that was needed to assemble the rest. The regional leaders said that they meet regularly to discuss common problems and approaches. They acknowledged that they were more cohesive than their national leaderships in Lome, whose "personality conflicts,8 they said, were undermining common opposition objectives. They contended that outside Lome, their experience was far more typical, and they appealed to the Ambassador to press this point with party leaders in the capital. ¶10. (SBU) The opposition leaders said they had worked together last year in the run-up to presidential elections and been persecuted together in the wake of the elections. They complained that either they or their followers had experienced extensive damage to their homes and property during the post-electoral violence and appealed to the Ambassador to assist them in rebuilding, either directly or by encouraging NGO,s that had initially been helpful. Media Events -------------- ¶11. (U) Ambassador gave a brief interview to Togolese television following the DHRF launches and a longer interview to VOA,s main radio affiliate in Togo, Radio Tchaoudjo, which is perched on a hillside overlooking Sokode and reaches audiences in Ghana, Benin, Burkit Faso, and Nigeria. DUNN