- Kléber Dadjo
Kléber Dadjo (1914–1988 or 1989) served as Interim President of
Togo in his role as Chairman of the National Reconciliation Committee from14 January 1967 to14 April 1967 following the overthrow of PresidentNicolas Grunitzky 's government.Col. Kléber Dadjo, was born in
Siou on August 12, 1914. He was of theNawde (or Losso) ethnic and linguistic group. Col. Dadjo served in theBritish Army duringWorld War II and in theFrench Army in the Indochina and Algerian conflicts. At the time of Togo's independence in 1960, he was the longest-serving and highest-ranking Togolese in the French Army. He held the rank of Captain and commanded Togo's tiny defence force, the "Garde Togolaise". He was promoted to Major and eventually to Colonel after the 1963 "coup d'état" and served as head of the military cabinet of PresidentNicolas Grunitzky .After the second military
coup d'état on January 13, 1967, Dadjo was named interim President of Togo (as Chairman of the "Comité National de Reconciliation"), a position that he held until April 14, 1967, when Lt. Col. GnassingbéEtienne Eyadéma was named President. From 1967 through 1968, he served as Minister of Justice and as "Chef du Cabinet Militaire de la Présidence de la République".In 1968, he retired and returned to his home in Siou where he became "Chef de Canton". He died in 1988 or 1989. [As reported by the "Chef de Canton de Siou" in June 2007. Currently seeking the precise date.] In 2006, Col. Dadjo was recognized by the government of President
Faure Gnassingbé along with former PresidentsSylvanus Olympio and Nicolas Grunitzky and former Vice-PresidentAntoine Méatchi as part of a decision to rehabilitate the image of Togo's previous leaders. The former "avenue de la Nouvelle Marche" inLomé was renamed "avenue Kléber Dadjo" in his honor.Col. Dadjo is frequently and erroneously identified in print as a
Kabyé rather than a Nawde (or Losso). [Sources include: Decalo, Samuel, "Historical Dictionary of Togo, Third Edition", Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1996, pp. 106-107.]Notes
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
