Yikpa-Au Village

Le Togolais Benjamin Boukpeti a remporte une medaille de bronze an kayak aux JO de Pekin. Incroyable puisqu’il etait classe 56e mondial. C’est la premiere medaille olympique jamais remportee par le Togo. Je ne pensais voir cela dans ma vie. C’est vraiment sensationnel!!!! Felicitations Benjamin.
For the first time in history, an atlete from Togo, Benjamin Boukpeti has won a bonze medal in the Olympic in Beijing.

Yikpa -as you can see in the picture above- is a small village located in a lush valley not far from Adeta and thus Kpalime. Its location in the middle of mountains and its great landscape and waterfalls makes it a touristic attraction explaining well the meaning of the name Yikpa: “If you go there you wouldn’t want to leave”. You take a taxi from Kpalime to Adeta then another taxi from Adeta and you’re in Yikpa right at the border with Ghana.

Yikpa -comme vous pouvez le voir dans la photo ci-dessus- est un petit village situe dans une vallee verdoyante pas loin d’Adeta et de Kpalime. Sa situation geographique bien au mileu de montagnes, son paysage et ses cascades font de Yikpa une attraction touristique. D’ou l’explication du nom Yikpa: “Si tu y vas, tu n’aimerais plus quitter”. Si tu prend un taxi de Kpalime a Adeta puis un autre taxi d’Adeta tu arriveras a Yikpa juste sur la frontiere avec le Ghana.

I’m pleased to announce to you the coming ordination to priesthood of my cousin Albert. J’ai le plaisir de vous annoncer l’ordination sacerdotale de mon cher cousin Albert selon l’ordre de Melchisedek. Lisez-plutot ses propres mots:
” Je suis dans la joie quand on m’a dit allons dans la maison du Seigneur.
C’est avec ces mots du psalmiste que je viens vous annoncer mon ordination sacerdotale.
Elle aura lieu a Kpalimé le 09 Aout 2008 dans la cathédrale Saint Esprit de Kpalimé à 9 h.
Vous êtes tous invités à participer où vous unir d’intention et de prière pour cet heureux événement dans ma vie.

Le 10 Août, le lendemain donc de l’ordination, dans mon village natal YIKPA aura lieu ma première messe.
Elle débutera à 9 h.
Merci d’avance pour vos prières!
Dieu vous bénisse et vous garde dans son amour. Prière me contacter pour des précisions.

This mail to inform you that i ll be ordained Priest on the 9th August 2008 at Kpalimé TOGO. You are invited to participate at this important event of my life.
My first mass will be at my village on the 10th August.
Ok God Bless all of you. ”

Lucky Dube the great South African reggae man has been murdered by car thieves in the streets of Jahannesburg yesterday. Africa and the the world has just lost not only a great musician but a great man. He always sung about social issues in his country and in Africa. He lived without alcohool or drugs contrary to a lot of rastas. He had been known all over the world. He’s now gone at the age of 43 because of crimes in big cities in south Africa. Can you believe that the rate of crimes in South Africa is 6 times the USA’s???
May Lucky Dube rest in peace! We will never forget him.

The electoral commission of Togo (dominated by RPT members and the president of the comission is from RPT as well) has proclaimed late last night the RPT winner of the congressional elections that took place last sunday October 14th, 2007 in Togo.
Now that I think back about how the actual president came to power in 2005 after his father died on the plane taking him to France for treatment, and how they came back quickly to Togo forbade the airplane that the president of the Assembly (who according to the constitution was supposed to become the interim president) was on to land in Lome and how they made the late dictator’s son president killing more than 500 people according to UN, I ask myself why in the world did I get optimistic about the outcome of last sunday’s election.
They said they won the elections again and it outrages me when western media like RFI and others are saying that this shows that the RPT is the premier political party in Togo, well-established blah blah blah… It seems to me like they don’t know anything about Togo and that they think that a people oppressed by one group of people (RPT) and one man (Eyadema) for 40 years and after the death of whom, his son was put in power by the military (and a fake election), a people who can’t find enough to eat, is so dumb that it would still vote for the RPT (forever and ever).
In congressional elections in the 90’s, it was the CAR of Yawovi Agboyibo that won 36 seats more that the RPT of Eyadema and another opposition party that won 7 seats and then the government had to kill some elected congressmen of CAR and corrupt some opposition leader like Edem Kodjo to get the majority at the National Assembly. And nothing has changed since then if not that more people were killed and the population is hungrier. So saying that the RPT really won these elections is just outrageous to me.
These elections came after long rounds of negotiations and what not and the EU, the Francophonie, and other organizations were involved in the election organization process and that made people believe that maybe something will happen this time and that explains the more than 80 % participation, but what are elections good for in Togo when you know that your votes will not count for anything and that the results will not reflect the elections or what people voted for, when the wrong result will always be given? The proof they truncated the results, according to the results they gave yesterday the participation was 95% and today they are saying it was 85%. We don’t need elections in Togo any more. Togo really seems to me like a God forsaken country.

Le mois prochain sont prevues des elections legislatives au Togo. Telles que les conditions ont ete decrites dans les medias togolais c’est comme si l’organisation est un peu mieux que certaines elections precedentes. Et aussi des observateurs sont promis par l’UE. alors nous esperons que quelque chose pourra sortir de ces elections tant attendues. Attendons de voir!!!!!

La coupe du monde des moins de 17 ans qui se deroule actuellement en Coree du Sud n’a pas totalement souri au jeunes Togolais qui y participaient. Lors de leur premier match contre le Costa-Rica les jeunes Togolais ont impressionne en premiere mi-temps en inscrivant un joli but mais se sont sont fait rattrappe en seconde mi-temps en encaissant un but. score final 1-1. Leur deuxieme match a ete sans buts malgre le jeu flamboyant des jeunes Togolais. Le troisieme et dernier match a vu les Togolais perdre 2 buts contre 1 apres avoir inscrit en premiere mi-temps un but d’anthologie. C’etait le meme scenario a la coupe du monde senior en 2006 ou le Togo menait la Coree du sud par 1 but a zero quand Abalo Dosseh le capitaine Togolais a pris un carton rouge et le match a bascule en faveur des Sud Coreens. Les jeunes Togolais ont fait la meme chose seul difference: le joueur Togolais a pris deux cartons jaunes cette fois ci. Dommage mais bon parcours pour ces jeunes Togolais qui ont impressionne par leur talents.