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
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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
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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