Togolese rapper, Tchala Essowè Narcisse, popularly known as Aamron, was arrested on May 26, 2025, after calling out President Gnassingbé’s administration in videos and social media posts and for a mobilisation on June 6 to mark President Faure Gnassingbe’s birthday.
Aamron was kept in detention until he appeared in a video widely circulated on social media on June 5. In the said video, the rapper expressed regret for using what he described as “insulting and outrageous” language against the President and asked for forgiveness.
In the same video, Aamron disclosed that he had been transferred to a psychiatric facility in Zébé, about 50 kilometres east of Lomé, for what police described as “severe depression.” A gendarmerie officer claimed the artist was not fully in control of his faculties at the time of his arrest.
However, Aamron’s relatives and some opposition political figures have strongly rejected this narrative, insisting the artist was not having any mental issue at the time of his arrest. They also insist that the rapper was arrested purely for his activism and outspoken views.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) finds the arrest of the rapper and the ‘supposed’ apology he rendered worrying.
The Constitution of Togo guarantees the right to free expression. Arresting Aamron for his commentary about the governance situation in the country and ‘coercing’ him to render an apology— as the circumstances surrounding his arrest and the testimony from his relatives seem to suggest — is totally unacceptable.
The MFWA, therefore, calls on the Togolese authorities to drop all charges against Aamron and cease all forms of harassment and intimidation against him and other critical voices in the country.
