Robert Dussey: Catholic monk now preaching Pan-Africanism and reparation

You will normally not find a Catholic cleric engaged in serious politics across Africa, but Togo’s Foreign minister, Robert Dussey, who was trained in the seminary, has defied all the odds as a Monk.

Dussey has given up his habit – the long robe worn by Monks – and no longer engages in missionary work. He now wears suits and African wear as he attends cabinet meetings. Dussey has started proclaiming Pan-Africanism everywhere he goes.

Born in Bangui, Central African Republic to Togolese parents, he was a seminarian at St. Paul’s Seminary in Bangui and became a Franciscan Monk. He later entered academia and became a professor of political science. Dussey, who has been Foreign minister since 2013, however, says his venture into politics does not make him a politician.

“I came to politics by accident. So, I am a political casualty. That is why I have framed all my political actions as an apostolate, a mission in the service of humanity and particularly in the service of my fellow citizens,” he told The Observer.

He said his involvement in politics was not a deliberate choice.

“After religious life, I was drawn to research and higher education. My interests were humanities and life in society. This led me to develop an interest in political philosophy. Politics as such became of interest to me later when the president of the republic called me to his side, first as diplomatic advisor and then as minister of Foreign Affairs,” Dussey added.

On his role in the Foreign ministry, he said the President of the Council of Ministers, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, (who until recently was president), was pleased to entrust him with the reins of Togolese diplomacy.

“I carry out these duties, inspired by his enlightened leadership and driven by my own convictions about the destiny of our continent. But above all, I had an enriching religious experience with monastic and contemplative communities,” he said.

On what has been his motivation, Dussey said all he wants to do is to serve causes that have always been important to him, including when he was in religious life. These, he said, are: human dignity, justice, equity and serving the weakest as well as the poor. He said he took over the country’s foreign post at a time when Togo, the sub-region, and the African continent, as well as the world, was at the beginning of major upheavals. These have been abated now.

“Things have changed for the better,” Dussey said, adding that “our country has gradually regained its place in the community of nations. We had to act quickly, to breathe new life into our diplomacy. This led us to undertake decisive initiatives to reorganize and expand our diplomatic network and adapt our services to contemporary challenges.”

“Faced with the political and security crises shaking our sub-region, it took imagination and boldness to assert strong positions, sometimes at odds with those of the majority of states. This was far from easy given the challenges and threats we faced,” he added.

Dussey said the world is undergoing profound changes, and major crises threaten international peace and security. It were these changes that inspired him with the Pan-African ideals, in doing this, he chose to position his country as a mediator and peacemaker, particularly on the African continent, and recalled Togo’s initiatives in Mali, Niger, between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, in Chad, and elsewhere.

On his advocacy on reparations for Africa and the diaspora, he said, Africa is the only continent to have been continuously subjected for nearly five centuries to three devastating scourges: slavery, colonization, and neocolonialism.

“This is unique in the history of humanity. It is appalling that, aside from the emotions the atrocities and suffering arouse, nothing has been done to date to redress these historical injustices. These are not moral failings that have been committed to be content with regrets or apologies,” Dussey added.

Anytime he gets the opportunity on his trips to European countries, he talks about slavery and colonialism: the two phenomena, which he says constitute serious crimes and not mere moral failings or accidents of history.

He added that the African Union (AU) on February 16, 2025, approved a decision that expressly qualifies slavery, deportation, and colonization as crimes against humanity and genocide. Dussey said the revival of Pan-Africanism is a dynamic that goes beyond Togo’s agenda, adding that, “it is a sustained movement driven by African youths and the diaspora, igniting our countries as well as those home to populations of African descent. People no longer accept the fate reserved for their continent.”

Togo, he said, “is supporting this movement with initiatives such as the one declaring 2021-2031 the decade of African roots and the African diaspora, the one relating to the organization of the 9th Pan-African Congress, and the recent one on the legal classification of slavery, deportation, and colonization.

All these initiatives are endorsed by the African Union and respond to the deepest aspirations of African populations for greater justice and equity.” Dussey said Togo is hosting the 9th Pan-African Congress, which was initially scheduled to be held in October 2024, but could not be held on that date, but will now take place from December 8 to 12, 2025, in Lomé.

HUMAN RIGHTS CODIFIED IN AFRICA.
Civilisation and law were created in #Africa, particularly in the #Mali Empire. No one can teach us neither law nor civilisation.
And no, no one invented the constitution and human rights. It was the Mali Empire that first established them in the… pic.twitter.com/eJx3P0l4nc

— Robert Dussey (@rdussey) April 14, 2025

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