Since July 27, 2026, former Togolese Defense Minister Marguerite Gnakadé has refused all food to denounce the harsh conditions she endures behind bars. Eleven months after her arrest for publicly criticizing President Faure Gnassingbé’s governance, she now uses her own body as a megaphone for nearly sixty political detainees still held without trial.
On August 30, 2025, as Lomé erupted in protests over rising living costs and a constitutional reform that shifted Togo from a presidential to a parliamentary system, Marguerite Gnakadé took to the streets. The first woman to lead Togo’s Defense Ministry (2020–2022), she was briefly detained by security forces before being released. Weeks later, on September 17, 2025, she was rearrested after publicly questioning President Gnassingbé’s fitness to govern.
The road from power to prisoner of conscience
Gnakadé’s background made her a unique figure in Togolese politics. Appointed Defense Minister in October 2020 despite lacking a military background, she was also the widow of Ernest Gnassingbé, the late brother of the incumbent president. Her ties to the ruling elite did not shield her when she chose to align with the opposition instead of suppressing dissent.
« We begin this hunger strike not out of despair, but conviction. When justice remains silent, our bodies become our final plea. »
Joint statement from hunger-striking political detainees, November 2025
Desperate measures amid reports of inhumane prison conditions
The former minister’s action mirrors a growing trend among Togo’s political prisoners. Since late 2025, hunger strikes have emerged as one of the few tools available to voice grievances. In November 2025, thirty-seven detainees launched a collective fast, while activist Grâce Koumayi and dual-national Abdoul Aziz Goma endured fifty days without food at Lomé’s central prison, prompting authorities to intervene. Human rights groups now demand immediate medical care for all hunger strikers.
From elite insiders to political prisoners: divergent fates
Gnakadé’s name is often linked to those of Kpatcha Gnassingbé and General Félix Kadanga—both former regime insiders with vastly different legal outcomes. Kpatcha, half-brother of the president and former Defense Minister, spent sixteen years imprisoned for an alleged coup attempt before receiving a presidential pardon in December 2025. General Kadanga, former army chief sentenced in 2023 to twenty years for complicity in a colonel’s murder, remains behind bars. Gnakadé stands alone as the only one detained solely for exercising free speech.
Constitutional reforms fuel ongoing unrest in Togo
Tensions have simmered since March 2024, when a new Constitution abolished presidential term limits, transforming Togo into a parliamentary republic with Faure Gnassingbé as Council of Ministers President. Critics labeled the change a « constitutional coup, » sparking mass youth protests in 2025. Authorities responded with mass arrests, swelling the ranks of political detainees. A December 2025 presidential amnesty freed 1,511 prisoners, though civil society groups estimate seventy-plus remain jailed on political grounds.
Civil society coalitions, including the « Touche pas à ma Constitution » movement and opposition parties, continue advocating for the unconditional release of all political prisoners. They report at least nine deaths in custody since repression began and warn that multiple detainees suffer lasting injuries from alleged mistreatment. Immediate medical access for hunger strikers like Gnakadé—and her own deteriorating health after eleven months in detention—remain urgent concerns.
