Seven months after the February 22 presidential election, Faure Gnassingbé, elected for a fourth five-year term, appointed a woman, Victoire Sidémèho Tomegah-Dogbé, Prime Minister. A first since independence.
Born in December 1959, Victoire Sidémèho Tomegah-Dogbé, is originally from Badougbé on the shores of Lake Togo in the prefecture of Vo, the phosphate mining area. She began her professional career in the private sector after obtaining a master’s degree in economics and management, option business management at the University of Benin, now the University of Lomé; before joining the United Nations Development Programme in 1998.
She joined the government for the first time in September 2008, when she was not politically known, as Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of grassroots development.
She quickly took off: in May 2009, Victoire Sidémèho Tomegah was appointed Director of Cabinet of the President of the Republic, a position she held concurrently with that of the Minister of Grassroots Development, Handicrafts, Youth Employment and Youth until her appointment at the head of the primacy.
Since this Monday, September 28, Victoire Sidémèho Tomégah is the first woman in the history of Togo to occupy this position; her main mission, in this period of Covid-19, will be the readjustment of the national development plan, the main project of the 4th mandate of Faure Gnassingbé.
Victoire Sidémèho Tomégah is the mother of three grown daughters. A woman of the field, she loves reading, singing, dancing, and plays the guitar in her spare time.
Now Prime Minister, she must form within a short period of time her first government and take over the current government emergencies managed by her predecessor, including the Covid 19 pandemic.