Togo elects Yawa Djigbodi Tsegan as 1st female head of National Assembly

- Togo has elected Yawa Djigbodi Tsegan as its first female head of the National Assembly

- Tsegan is a member of President Faure Gnassingbe's Union for the Republic party and was chosen as the head of the National Assembly in a vote by her fellow lawmakers

- Tsegan won 88 nominations from the 89 members of parliament who participated in the voting

Togo has elected Yawa Djigbodi Tsegan as its first female head of the National Assembly, after the just conducted parliamentary elections that saw the ruling party retain the majority seats.

Daily Mail reports that Tsegan who is a member of President Faure Gnassingbe's Union for the Republic party was chosen as the head of the National Assembly on Wednesday, January 23, in a vote by her fellow lawmakers.

Tsegan won 88 nominations from the 89 members of parliament who participated in the voting.

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The 47-year-old lawmaker previously held the position of parliamentary administrator. She is taking over from her party colleague Dama Dramani who has been the head of the National Assembly since September 2013.

Togo held parliamentary elections in December 2018 to elect 91 new members of the National Assembly.

The main opposition coalition, however, boycotted the election over alleged organisational “irregularities”, though observers from the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) reportedly said the election was “free and fair”.

President Gnassingbe's party won 59 of the 91 seats. Gnassingbe has been in power since 2005, following the death of his father, who ruled Togo for 37 years.

The country has been reportedly embroiled political turmoil, including street protests calling for constitutional reform and Gnassingbe’s resignation for nearly 18 months.

The opposition is agitating for a return to a limit of two terms for the president which will be applied retroactively, ruling out Gnassingbe’s chances of standing for re-election in 2020 and 2025.

The ruling party, however, refused to apply the term limit retroactively. The opposition party is reportedly planning to stage another protest on Saturday, January 26.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Ethiopia's prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, in 2018 announced a political reshuffle which saw a record of 50% of the new cabinet women.

The new women dominated cabinet saw 10 out of the 20 positions occupied by women.

The development also saw Aisha Mohammed emerge as defence minister of the country. Aisha is the first woman to hold that position.

In the same cabinet, Muferiat Kamil, who had previously served as House speaker, was also named the minister of peace.

The Ethopia prime minister boasted that his female-dominated cabinet would prove the African belief wrong that women cannot lead.

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Source: Legit.ng