Togolese authorities have reopened their borders after they were closed to allow for the April 29 legislative elections to take place in the country.

The borders were sealed from midnight on Monday to midnight on Tuesday as Togolese citizens went to the polls to elect 113 parliamentarians, alongside 179 regional deputies and municipal councillors, with the task of electing a newly established senate.

Monday’s elections followed recent constitutional reforms in the country, transitioning from a presidential to a parliamentary system. The country’s opposition parties alleged that this was a move to extend the mandate of President Faure Gnassingbé, 57, who has been in power since 2005 after succeeding his father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who himself ruled for nearly 40 years.

This claim was refuted by Gnassingbé’s ruling Union for the Republic (UNIR) party, which stated that the amendment aimed to enhance representation.

Under the new constitution, the President’s role transitions into a largely ceremonial position, elected by parliament and not by the populace, for a four-year term and with no clear term limits to stay in office.

Without the recent constitutional changes, Mr. Gnassingbé would have been limited to one more presidential term (of five years) in 2025.

Some people on the Ghanaian side of the Ghana-Togo Border at Aflao, whom the Ghana News Agency (GNA) spoke to, said they were stranded by the closure as they least expected it.

They noted that during the country’s last election (the presidential election in 2020), the borders were left open, thus leading to the assumption that it would be the same for Monday’s legislative elections.

Meanwhile, the results of the process, with some 4.2 million expected registered voters from more than 14,200 polling stations across the country, have yet to be declared.