Implementation of the reparations programme / HCRRUN meets with the people of the Kara region

The HCRRUN delegation, on an information and exchange tour with the people of Northern Togo, continued its meetings this Tuesday, 16 May, with the people of the Kara region. The large hall of the Kara Congress Palace welcomed residents from the seven prefectures of this region who came to listen to the HCRRUN’s message.

The proceedings began with a brief exhortation to peace and forgiveness by the Vicar General of the Kara Cathedral, followed by an opening prayer led by an evangelical pastor. In his welcome address, the Prefect of Kozah, Col. Bakali Hèmou, expressed the readiness of the people of his prefecture and of the entire region to support the HCRRUN reparations programme. He then thanked the Institution and the entire Togolese government for this initiative. Responding to the Prefect of Kozah’s welcome, Dr Wiyao Evalo, First Rapporteur of HCRRUN and head of the delegation, in his introductory remarks, presented the objective of this information and exchange meeting, which is to secure the support and involvement of all the people, and especially the victims, in this programme. “ Through these reparations, the State wants to send victims a strong signal, that of the solidarity of all Togolese. Through these reparations, victims must find the expression of the State’s willingness to help them emerge from their pain,” declared the First Rapporteur of HCRRUN.

In turn, the two speakers, namely Alfa-Boukari Manaf and Fidèl Pocanam, presented respectively on Transitional Justice and why Togo made this choice, and on the reparations process.

In his presentation, the first speaker recalled how Togo moved from the Global Political Agreement signed by political actors in 2006 to the establishment of HCRRUN, through the national consultations and the CVJR. For his part, the second speaker explained the reparations programme, citing the five forms that exist and the reasons why the financial aspect is prioritised in this first phase implemented by HCRRUN.

Participants, made up of direct and indirect victims, beneficiaries and many other citizens, were given the floor to ask questions, to which answers were provided.

The people, and especially the victims, left with a sense of satisfaction, while awaiting the time for the compensations proper.