A recent wave of protests by Togolese opposition groups and a heavy-handed clampdown by security forces have set the scene for a tense struggle for reforms in a country that has been ruled for 45 years by a father and his son. Since April, the opposition has been holding demonstrations to press for electoral reforms ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for an as yet undeclared date this month.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the violence inflicted upon a journalist by security forces in Togo on Friday 5 October. According to Independent Journalists Union in Togo (UJIT in French), an IFJ affiliate, journalist Justin Anani was attacked by security forces while covering a protest march organized by two opposition groups, the 'Collectif Sauvons le Togo' and 'Mouvement Arc-en ciel' in the capital Lomé.

Togolese Prime Minister Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo has resigned. Although no reasons for the resignation were given, TVT said President Faure Gnassingbe accepted the resignation. His resignation comes at a time when the country was preparing itself for the general election to take place at the end of this year.

Media watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), has condemned an attack on a Togolese journalist who was covering a demonstration in the West Afrian state and called on authorities to immediately investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice. Atayi Ayi, a reporter for the daily Forum de la Semaine, was taking photographs of a protest in Lomé, the capital, when two groups of unidentified demonstrators beat him and seized his camera, CPJ said in a statement.