Joseph Kokou Koffigoh (born 1948[1]) is a Togolese politician, human rights activist, and a poet who served as Prime Minister of Togo from 27 August 1991 to 23 April 1994.

He was replaced as prime minister after the 1994 parliamentary election, in which the CFN performed poorly, although Koffigoh himself won a seat in the National Assembly.

[8] After Eyadéma's party, the Rally of the Togolese People (RPT), was banned by the transitional High Council of the Republic (HCR) in November 1991,[5] soldiers began a siege of Koffigoh's official residence in Lomé in late November, demanding that Koffigoh's government be replaced and threatening to "reduce the city to ashes";[9] they also demanded that the RPT be legalized again and that the HCR be dissolved.

Eyadéma publicly called on the soldiers to return to their barracks and expressed continued trust in Koffigoh, but also invited him to begin consultations on the formation of a new national unity government.

[12] On 3 December 1991, soldiers succeeded in capturing Koffigoh in a heavy assault, involving tanks and machine guns, on his official residence.

Koffigoh said in a news conference that he was not being held prisoner and that he was working on "getting things back on track"; although he remained in office, his power was considered curtailed.

[26] As Foreign Minister, he headed peace talks in Lomé between the government of Sierra Leone and rebels of the Revolutionary United Front in mid-1999.

The report cast blame for the violence widely; it included criticism of the government, the opposition, and the media, placed the death toll at 154, and gave recommendations for improving the electoral process.

[33] In November 2010, Koffigoh served as head of the African Union observer mission on the presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire.

Koffigoh's report was highly critical of irregularities and shortcomings in the electoral process in the north of the country and documented significant abuses in regions held by former rebel troops.

Nevertheless, Koffigoh attended the disputed inauguration of the incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo in a private, non-official capacity, leading the African Union to distance itself from him.