Jacques Amouzou

Kwame-Mensah Jacques Amouzou (born 25 July 1936^[1]) is a Togolese politician and businessman. An ethnic Ewe, Amouzou was a minor candidate in both the 1993 and 1998 presidential elections.^[2] He is the President of the Union of Independent Liberals (ULI).^[3] Amouzou was "widely perceived as a front" for President Gnassingbé Eyadéma during the 1990s.^[4]

Political career

Amouzou was born in Gbatope, located in Zio Prefecture.^[5] At the time of the August 1993 presidential election, Amouzou ran as an independent candidate.^[5][6] He and Ife Adani were the only candidates to stand against President Eyadéma, who won 96% of the vote. Amouzou and Adani were not considered serious challengers; all of the major opposition leaders chose to boycott the election.^[6]

Led by Amouzou, the ULI was founded in November 1993 as a moderate opposition party, representing the political space between Eyadéma's Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) and the radical opposition Collective of Democratic Opposition-2 (COD-2).^[7] In the February 1994 parliamentary election, he ran as a candidate in Zio Prefecture, but did not win a seat.^[8]

Amouzou and the ULI were viewed as close to the RPT, and Amouzou was described as "virtually a second RPT candidate" at the time of the 1998 presidential election; his critics alleged that he was merely a tool of Eyadéma who was used to manipulate the political playing field in Eyadéma's favor. He placed last in the 1998 election with 0.35% of the vote.^[9]

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