Protesters spill onto streets as Eyadema's son declared president

Faure Gnassingbe, the candidate for Togo’s ruling party and the son of the late veteran president Gnassingbe Eyadema, was declared winner of the presidential election on Tuesday. Minutes after the television announcement, an IRIN correspondent saw crowds of angry youths spill onto the streets in some areas of the capital Lome waving machetes and hurling stones. Barricades were thrown up across major arteries and a heavy pall of black smoke hung over the city as protesters set fire to tyres. Announcing the results, the head of the CENI National Electoral Commission, Kissem Tchangai-Walla, said Gnassingbe of the Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) won 60.22 percent of the vote in Sunday’s poll while the main opposition candidate Emmanuel Bob-Akitani captured 38.19 percent. "In view of these results ... the candidate of the RPT has been provisionally elected," said Kissem Tchangai-Walla. The electoral commission chief said the provisional results must be confirmed by the constitutional council under Togolese law and that they did not include polling stations where ballot boxes had been destroyed. Accusations of fraud and voting irregularities have been made by both sides in an election marred by violence, with diplomats and hospital sources saying three people had been killed in clashes on Sunday. The weekend vote was held after the sudden death in office on 5 February of Eyadema, who ruled the tiny country of five million people for 38 years, becoming Africa’s longest serving ruler. Turnout was high in the landmark election, at 63.57 percent, according to CENI. The election was a straight race between Gnassingbe, who is 39, and 74-year-old Bob-Akitani, who ran on behalf of a coalition of six opposition parties. A third opposition candidate, Nicolas Lawson won 1.04 percent according to the provisional results while Harry Olympio, who at the last minute withdrew from the race, nonetheless picked up 0.55 percent, CENI said.