Monsignor Philippe Kpodzro, archbishop of Lomé for around fifteen years, died on January 9, 2024 in Sweden, a country where this man of the church who became an opponent had gone into exile in recent years.
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Originally from Togobut exiled in Sweden, Monsignor Kpodzro died on January 9, 2024 at the age of 93.
The information was confirmed this Tuesday morning by the “Brotherhood of Togolese Priests”, meeting in session in the town of Atakpamé.
The man of the church, who became a supporter of the opposition upon his retirement in 2007, was very critical in recent years of the country’s president, Faure Gnassingbé.
He missed his ultimate mission, the one he wanted. live before leaving the world of the living »: unite the political opposition to try to bring your country to change.
This struggle, his virulent positions towards the power, forced Monsignor Kpodzro to leave Togo for exile in Sweden, after the 2020 presidential election.
In the 1990s, the man of the church worked, helped, to get his country out of the political crisis by notably chairing the National Conference and then taking the head of the body responsible for drafting the Constitution.
So many actions have given him the image of a wise man, of a key player in Togo who has tried, in vain, since 2007, to mobilize the opposition around him.
A sign of its loss of influence, in April 2023, the DMK, the Dynamique Monseigneur Kpodzro, changed its name to become Dynamic for the majority of the people in Togo.
Two months ago, since his Swedish exile, Monsignor Kopdzro claimed to no longer be able to pay his rent and assured: “ My enemies have got what they want, may God forgive them! As for me, I offer my life for the salvation of all Togo. »
Although he was never the subject of an investigation in his country, the former archbishop emeritus of Lomé refused to return to Togo.
“ He went into exile with no doubt the hope of seeing the alternation project come to fruition. »
For Bergès Mietté, associate researcher at the multidisciplinary laboratory “Africas in the world” at Sciences Po Bordeaux, Monseigneur Kpodzro has in any case marked the history of Togo.
“ Monsignor Kpodzro is both a charismatic and emblematic man who embodied the political life of contemporary Togo.he emphasizes on the microphone of Guillaume Thibault. I had the pleasure of meeting him very briefly “.
The researcher believes, however, that the person concerned has missed his objective: to see his country experience political alternation: “ I think that this project of democratic alternation, Monsignor Kpodzro embodied at one point a bit of this point of view, to say that it was a failure for the opposition. And as towards the end of his life, he was part of this opposition, this collective failure, it is also his failure. »
He adds : ” This project could not materialize because the divisions within the Togolese opposition are enormous, and it is perhaps at the end of these multiple failures that he resolved to leave the country, probably feeling in danger. He went into exile with no doubt the hope of seeing the alternation project come to fruition. Unfortunately, he left without this project seeing the light of day. »