The National Assembly of Togo
Togo is a country in West Africa, located between Ghana to the West, Benin to the East and Burkina Faso to the North; it has an opening on the Atlantic Ocean to the south. With an estimated population of 8 million inhabitants, Togo covers an area of 56,600 km². former territory under the trusteeship of France, it gained independence on April 27, 1960 under Mr. Sylvanus E. OLYMPIO, the first president of the republic. The current President of the Republic of Togo is his Excellency Mr. Faure E. Gnassingbe and the current Prime Minister of Togo is Mrs. Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe, the first woman to hold this position since Togo’s accession to international sovereignty. Togo has a constitution which provides for a National Assembly. The legislative election started in the country since 1992.
In the Togolese parliament, there are two main entities: the administrative service which ensures the administrative functioning of the institution. It is headed by a director of cabinet, then we have the parliamentarians, they are the elected officials and the representatives of the people. They are run by an executive office headed by a president. Mrs. Tsegan Yawa Djigbodi is the current president of the Togolese parliament. Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected for a term of five (5 years). The National Assembly is made up of 91 seats from 30 electoral constituencies. The MPs who are elected for the current legislature essentially come from five political parties, four of which constitute the parliamentary opposition facing a majority in power. In addition to MPs from political parties, there is also independent elected representatives in the Togolese Parliament. In order to carry out the actions in the National Assembly, the elected officials are divided into 9 permanent committees:
- Committee on Health and Population;
- Defense and Security Committee;
- Foreign Relations and Cooperation Committee;
- Education and Cultural Development Committee;
- Agro-pastor, regional planning and local development committee
- Finance and Economic Development Committee;
- Human Rights Committee;
- Constitutional, Legislative and General Administration Laws Committee;
- Environment and Climate Change Committee.
The main role of the parliament is to pass the laws either by law proposal by a parliamentary group or a deputy, or by bill introduced by the government. The parliament also has the role of controlling the actions of the government. Thus, the National Assembly can summon either the head of government or a minister to ask him for explanations on a given question.