Togo - Military Personnel

Togo was the most militarized country in the world with a military ratio of about 250/300 inhabitants. Staff numbers have increased from about 300 in the 1960s to more than 13,000 today, with a steady rise in military spending since General Eyadéma's accession to power in 1967, although it would be better to go back to January 1963 when a year later he becomes chief of staff of the army.

The internal terminus of the rural exodus, Lomé is the receptacle of all the demographic dynamics of the country, as are other capitals of the countries of the South. Hence a very high concentration of the estimated population of almost 1,000,000 habitants, which is more or less close to 1/5 of the total population of the country, whereas cities with more than 150,000 habitants. Thus, Lomé appears as a true megapole on a scale of the country with all that implies in terms of attractive force, unemployment, delinquency and criminality. Then it is a place of concentration of centrifugal social and political forces that oppose the Eyadema dictatorship: political parties, Unions, students, women, youth, etc. Lomé makes Togo a macroeconomic country to such an extent that it controls the city is certain to have the hand on more than a third of the political potential of the country of which it is also the economic lung with its port and its infrastructures, in spite of their advanced disintegration where the ostrich nests count out more than the potholes on the roads.

The plethoric army was accompanied by a fairly strong mono-ethnicity. Never had an African army been as ethnicized or tribalized as the Togolese army. General Eyadéma built essentially the FAT around his ethnic group. It was known to the Togolese that numerical data at the National Conference of July-August 1991 confirmed, which was still valid today as a whole. Of the 13,000 men they count, 10,000 are from the northern part of the country and the remaining 3,000 from the south. Of these 10,000 men from the North, 7,000 are Kabyè, of whom 3,000 are from Pya, the native village of the President. While the Kabyè are between 10 and 12 percent of the population, they alone accounted for 53.84 per cent of the Armed Forces, of which 23 percent were Pya, while the North as a whole was 76.92% of the total workforce.

The supervision of the Togolese armed forces was also almost entirely in the hands of the Kabyè. Indeed, of its 300 officers, 50 are from the South, while 250 are for the North, Among which 200 Kabyè, of which 50 for the village of Pya alone. In addition, none of the 26 command units that made up the backbone of the Togolese Armed Forces are entrusted to a southern national. Of the 17 units commanded by Kabyè, 10 are commanded by Pya officers, while the other 7 units belong to other ethnic groups in the North.

It is logical that the training structures such as the FAT Officer Training School in Kara and the FAT Non-Commissioned Training School in Témédja recruit mainly from among the nationals of the North like the Military College Of Tchitchao whose 80% of the recruits come from the ethnic group of General Eyadema. Moreover, in this ethnic configuration, it goes without saying that it is quite natural that Kabyè is often found at the head of the various corps and units of command. On 27 August 2005, the Minister of Defense, Kpatcha Gnassingbé, issued a decree on appointments and transfers to the FAT.

The training system for Togolese gendarmes comprises several successive steps. 31. Initial training As a first step in the career of the future gendarme, the entrance exam for the ENG is open to men and women under the following conditions: be of Togolese nationality and aged between 18 and 24, hold a minimum of a first-cycle certificate (BEPC) or any other equivalent diploma, • be recognized as having good character, be physically fit (medical examination ).

Presentation of sports trophy teams Selection tests include various tests: - written tests: dictation - questions, mathematics, general culture and civics - sports events: 1000 meters, 100 meters, climbing ropes. After passing the tests and undergoing general military training at the National Training Center (CNI), The pupils-gendarmes continue their schooling during 6 months during which the bases of the profession of gendarme are inculcated to them. During this period, they learn lessons in the various fields of action in order to better understand their future functions in operational units.

2010 Togolese Armed Forces (TAF): 13 074 of which 
Army: 12 212 
Air Force: 636 
National Navy: 226 

The Army was broken down as follows: 
Training Center (CTAP): 204 
National Training Center (CNI): 126 
Military College of Tchitchao (CMT): 297 
FAT Officers Training School (EFOFAT) 99 
FAT Training School for Non-commissioned Officers (EFSOFAT) : 17 
Rapid Response Force (FIR): 403 
Rangers: 126 
Veterans: 4 800.