Messan Agbéyomé Gabriel Kodjo (born 12 October 1954) is a Togolese politician who served as Prime Minister of Togo from 29 August 2000 to 27 June 2002. Political career Kodjo was born in Tokpli, located in Yoto Prefecture, in 1954; his parents were Dossou Kodjo and Kédjé Flora Dosseh. He studied in France and received a degree in organizational management from the University of Poitiers in January 1983. Back in Togo, Kodjo was Commercial Director of SONACOM from 1985 to 1988 before President Gnassingbé Eyadéma appointed him to the government as Minister of Youth, Sports, and Culture on 19 December 1988. He remained in that post until September 1991, when a transitional government led by Prime Minister Joseph Kokou Koffigoh took office. He was appointed as Minister of Territorial Administration and Security in September 1992, but Koffigoh dismissed him, along with another member of the Rally of the Togolese People (RPT), Minister of Communications and Culture Benjamin Agbéka, on 9 November 1992. Kodjo and Agbéka, with Eyadéma's support, refused to leave the government, despite protests and Koffigoh's intent to take the matter to the Supreme Court; Kodjo remained in his position until February 1993, when he became Director-General of the Autonomous Port of Lomé. Kodjo served for more than six years as Director-General of the Autonomous Port of Lomé. In the March 1999 parliamentary election, he was elected to the National Assembly as the RPT candidate in the Third Constituency of Yoto Prefecture; he was the only candidate and received 100% of the vote. Following the election, he was elected as President of the National Assembly in June 1999. After a little over a year in that position, President Eyadéma appointed Kodjo as Prime Minister on 29 August 2000, replacing Eugene Koffi Adoboli after Adoboli was defeated in a no-confidence vote. Kodjo said on 30 August 2001 that the Constitution should be changed to enable Eyadéma to run for a third term in 2003. Although Kodjo was widely speculated to be Eyadéma's intended successor after becoming prime minister, he and Eyadéma came into conflict and was dismissed as Prime Minister by Eyadéma on 27 June 2002 reportedly due to differences within the RPT. In an article published in Le Scorpion newspaper on 28 June, he criticized Eyadéma. To save retributions from the tyrannical regime of the Gnassingbe, he promptly left Togo, and in early July 2002, he was declared wanted