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Viewing cable 06LOME353, AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO SOKODE, TOGO'S MUSLIM

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06LOME353 2006-03-28 10:55 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Lome
VZCZCXYZ0003
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPC #0353/01 0871055
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY ADXAD2E75 MSI4550 - 648)
R 281055Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY LOME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6937
INFO RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0130
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1881
RUEHOU/AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU 8807
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