Lome - Militants of Togo's ruling party gathered in the capital Lome on Tuesday morning as the west African country awaited confirmation that Faure Gnassingbe has won hotly disputed presidential elections.
The Togolese People's Rally (RPT) supporters assembled in several parts of Lome to celebrate Gnassingbe's already provisionally announced victory in the April 24 poll, with 60 percent of the vote, over the main opposition party of candidate, Emmanuel Bob Akitani, who received 38 percent.
Gnassingbe, a financier, is one of the sons of the late Gnassingbe Eyadema, the authoritarian president who ruled Togo for 37 years before his death in February plunged the small country into political upheaval then violence.
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"We're getting organised to celebrate the RPT victory," said one of about 150 militants gathered at "Togo 2000", the main rally point in the city, under the eye of a dozen police patrolling the exhibition centre.
| 'In Benin, refugees are reporting that more arrivals are on the way' |
The constitutional court is expected to confirm official results, already given by the national poll commission, at 4pm, ahead of an inauguration ceremony for the winner set for Wednesday.
The opposition has alleged massive electoral fraud.
Akitani Bob proclaimed himself the winner, but election monitors from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) endorsed the conduct of the poll, despite failures of organisation they said did not affect the outcome.
Post-electoral violence in which at least 22 people were killed has also sent more than 18 500 people fleeing west into Ghana and east towards Benin, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.
Ten thousand people have headed to Benin, and about 8 500 to Ghana since the April 24 poll results were announced, said Jennifer Pagonis, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
"In Benin, refugees are reporting that more arrivals are on the way," particularly from Lome, which borders Ghana, and Aneho, on the frontier with Benin, Pagonis told journalists in Geneva.
However the Togolese capital was calm on Tuesday, with shops and schools open in most districts. Only in Lome's opposition strongholds of Be and Dekon, where much of the unrest occurred, were many businesses still closed.
Another presidential candidate, Harry Olympio, who gained 0,55 percent of the vote, called on Monday for the creation of a government of national reconciliation under the control of the international community.
Faure Gnassingbe has urged the opposition to participate in a future national unity government, but this offer has been refused by Akitani Bob.
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