Koffi Sama (born 1944Page on Sama at ibe.unesco.org
(PDF) .) was the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

from 29 June 2002 to 9 June 2005.

Biography

Sama was born at Amoutchou in

Ogou Prefecture Ogou is a prefecture located in the Plateaux Region of Togo. The prefecture covers 1,928 km2, with a population in 2022 of 253,467. The prefecture seat is located in Atakpamé. Cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a coun ...

. He was Minister of Youth, Sports, and Culture from 1981 to 1984, Regional Director of Rural and Maritime Region Development from 1986 to 1990, and Director-General of the Togolese Cotton Company from 1990 to 1996, before re-entering the government as Minister of Health, in which position he served from 1996 to 1999. In the March 1999 parliamentary election, Sama was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

as the candidate of the ruling

Rally of the Togolese People The Rally of the Togolese People (, RPT) was the ruling political party in Togo from 1969 to 2012. It was founded by President Gnassingbé Eyadéma and headed by his son, President Faure Gnassingbé, after the former's death in 2005. Faure Gnassin ...

(RPT) in the Third Constituency of Ogou Prefecture; he ran unopposed and won the seat with 100% of the vote. He then served as Minister of National Education and Research from 1999 to 2002."Jun 2002 - Togo", ''Keesing's Record of World Events'', volume 48, June 2002, Togo, page 44,830. On 7 December 2000, he also became the Secretary-General of the RPT. President

Gnassingbé Eyadéma Gnassingbé Eyadéma (; born Étienne Eyadéma Gnassingbé, 26 December 1935 – 5 February 2005) was a Togolese military officer and politician who served as the third president of Togo from 1967 until his death in 2005, after which he was immed ...

appointed Sama as Prime Minister on 27 June 2002, replacing Agbeyome Kodjo;Ebow Godwin
"Togolese president sacks West African nation's prime minister"
Associated Press, 29 June 2002. this move was said to have been done as part of preparations for the parliamentary election that was held later in the year. Following the death of Eyadéma on 5 February 2005, Sama, as Prime Minister, announced the news, calling it a "national catastrophe". Sama left office on 9 June 2005, when he was succeeded by

Edem Kodjo Édouard Kodjovi "Edem" Kodjo (May 23, 1938 – April 11, 2020), was a Togolese politician and diplomat. He was Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity from 1978 to 1983; later, in Togo, he was a prominent opposition leader after t ...

. After serving as Prime Minister, Sama became a Special Advisor to President

Faure Gnassingbé Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé (; born 6 June 1966)"Biographie de nouveau pré ...

, with the rank of Minister; he remains in that post as of 2008. He was the head of the

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as CEDEAO in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of twelve countries of West Africa. Collectively, the present and former members comprise an area ...

(ECOWAS) observer mission in the

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

an April 2007 presidential election. Sama was a member of the RPT College of Sages.List of members of the College of Sages
RPT website .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sama, Koffi 1944 births Living people Prime ministers of Togo Members of the National Assembly (Togo) Rally of the Togolese People politicians 21st-century Togolese politicians Culture ministers of Togo Education ministers of Togo Health ministers of Togo Sports ministers of Togo People from Plateaux Region, Togo 20th-century Togolese politicians