Togo closes land border for impending presidential poll

The Togolese Interior Ministry has announced in Lome that its land border was closed Friday morning until the end of the presidential election set to begin on Sunday,but the exact open time was not specified.

According to sources from the ministry, the border was originally planned to be closed from Saturday evening to Monday morning. The small west African country was used to shutting up its border whenever there was an election.

Togo, a former French colony, sits between Ghana and Benin on the west coast of Africa. It is also adjacent to Burkina Faso in the north.

Togo will hold presidential election on Sunday after it was plunged into a political crisis when its Africa's longest-serving ruler, Gnassingbe Eyadema died suddenly on February 5.

The army bypassed the constitution by naming Eyadema's son Faure Gnassingbe, as the country's new leader. But violent street protests, African sanctions and international outrage eventually persuaded Gnassingbe to step down and he will run in the polls as the ruling party's candidate.

Source: Xinhua