UN General Assembly
1967

29. Before presenting my Government's views on the major international issues of today, I should like, if only for your information, to sketch a general outline of the situation in my country since the last session. 30. Following the events which took place in Togo in January 1963, the army at once handed the power over to the civilian body with a view to establishing a policy of national union and reconciliation under which all Togolese could live in peace and harmony. Unfortunately, the previous regime was unable to achieve that policy, vital though it was. On the contrary, many of our countrymen had to seek exile, to say nothing of the prisons crammed full of political prisoners. The leaders themselves engaged in futile rivalries, relegating the higher interests of the nation to the background.