Since July 27, 2026, Togo’s former defense minister has refused all food in protest against the harsh conditions of her imprisonment. Almost a year after her arrest for criticizing President Faure Gnassingbé’s governance, she now embodies, through her own body, the struggle of over sixty political detainees still held without trial.
On August 30, 2025, as protests erupted across Lomé over rising living costs and a controversial constitutional reform shifting Togo toward a parliamentary system, Essozimna Marguerite Gnakadé joined the demonstrations. The first woman to serve as Togo’s defense minister between 2020 and 2022, she was swiftly identified by security forces and briefly sent home. Weeks later, on September 17, 2025, she was arrested—not for violence, but for publicly questioning the president’s leadership.
Her detention has since dragged on, with no improvement in her conditions. On July 27, 2026, she escalated her protest by launching a total hunger strike, a desperate act to draw attention to what her supporters describe as inhumane treatment behind bars.
From government insider to prisoner of conscience
Marguerite Gnakadé’s journey made her a singular figure long before her imprisonment. Appointed defense minister in October 2020 despite lacking a military background, she was also the widow of Ernest Gnassingbé, the late brother of the current president. Her ties to the ruling elite did not spare her when she chose to side with the opposition rather than silence her criticism.
« We are not fasting out of despair, but as a final stand. When institutions fail, our bodies become the last voice we have. »
Statement from a collective of hunger-striking political detainees, November 2025
Hundreds of days without food: the grim reality of Togo’s political prisoners
Marguerite Gnakadé is not alone in her protest. Since late 2025, hunger strikes have become a recurring tactic among Togo’s political prisoners. In November 2025, thirty-seven detainees launched a coordinated fast. The following month, activists Grâce Koumayi and Abdoul Aziz Goma endured fifty days without food at Lomé’s central prison, forcing authorities to respond. Human rights groups now demand urgent medical care for all hunger strikers.
Former officials behind bars: divergent fates under the same regime
Marguerite Gnakadé shares headlines with other high-profile detainees like Kpatcha Gnassingbé and General Félix Kadanga, yet her case stands apart. Kpatcha Gnassingbé, half-brother of the president and former defense minister, spent sixteen years imprisoned after a coup attempt conviction before being released in a December 2025 presidential pardon. General Kadanga, former army chief of staff, has served a twenty-year sentence since 2023 for alleged involvement in a colonel’s murder.
Unlike them, Marguerite Gnakadé remains jailed solely for expressing dissent—a charge that underscores the regime’s tightening grip on political opposition in Togo.
The constitutional shift that sparked nationwide unrest
In March 2024, Togo adopted a new constitution converting the presidency into a parliamentary-style role under Prime Minister Faure Gnassingbé, now free from term limits. Critics condemned the reform as an « unconstitutional coup, » fueling 2025’s youth-led protests. The government responded with a heavy crackdown, leading to the arrests of dozens labeled as « opinion prisoners. »
A December 2025 presidential pardon freed 1,511 detainees, easing tensions temporarily. Civil society groups, however, estimate that around seventy political prisoners remain incarcerated, their cases overshadowed by the amnesty.
International outcry grows as conditions deteriorate
The movement « Hands Off My Constitution » and opposition parties continue advocating for the release of all political detainees. Reports indicate at least nine prisoners have died in custody since the crackdown began, with others suffering lasting injuries from alleged mistreatment. Activists insist on the immediate, unconditional release of hunger strikers like Marguerite Gnakadé, whose health has visibly declined after eleven months behind bars.
