Rumour and power in Togo

The article describes some of the main political events which took place in Togo in mid to late 1991, at a time when the power of President Gnassingbe Eyadema was facing more serious opposition than at any time since his assumption of the presidency twenty-four years earlier, and examines how these events were represented in popular discussion in Lome. By analysing some aspects of the power struggle in that period, and popular perceptions of them, the article aims to shed light on the cultural mechanisms by which Eyadema sustained himself in power and through which his power could be contested.