The History of
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...
since the 16th century, for the geographical area included in 1960 in what was then called the
Republic of Dahomey
The Republic of Dahomey (french: République du Dahomey; ), simply known as Dahomey, was established on 4 December 1958, as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Prior to attaining autonomy, it had been French Dahomey, part of t ...
before becoming the
People's Republic of Benin.
Colonial Benin (formerly, République du Dahomey/Republic of Dahomey)
Dahomey was a French colony of and a part of French West Africa from 1904 to 1959. Under the French, a port was constructed at
Cotonou, and railroads were built. School facilities were expanded by
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
missions. In 1946, Dahomey became an overseas territory with its own
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
and representation in the French national assembly. On December 4, 1958, it became the
Republic of Dahomey
The Republic of Dahomey (french: République du Dahomey; ), simply known as Dahomey, was established on 4 December 1958, as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Prior to attaining autonomy, it had been French Dahomey, part of t ...
.
Post-colonial Benin
Between 1960 and 1972, a succession of
military coup
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
s brought about many changes of government. The last of these brought to power Major
Mathieu Kérékou
Mathieu Kérékou (; 2 September 1933 – 14 October 2015) was a Beninese politician who served as President of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 2006.
After seizing power in a military coup, he ruled the country for 19 years, for ...
as the head of a regime professing strict
Marxist-Leninist principles. By 1975 the Republic of Dahomey changed its name to the People's Republic of Benin. The
People's Revolutionary Party of Benin
The People's Revolutionary Party of Benin (french: Parti de la Révolution Populaire du Bénin) was a political party in the People's Republic of Benin. It was founded in 1975 by General Mathieu Kérékou. With the new constitution of 30 November ...
(PRPB) remained in complete power until the beginning of the 1990s. Kérékou, encouraged by France and other democratic powers, convened a national conference that introduced a new democratic constitution and held presidential and legislative elections. Kérékou's principal opponent at the presidential poll, and the ultimate victor, was Prime Minister
Nicéphore Soglo
Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo (born November 29, 1934) is a Beninese politician who was Prime Minister of Benin from 1990 to 1991 and President from 1991 to 1996. He was Mayor of Cotonou from 2003 to 2015. Soglo was married to Rosine Vieyra Soglo, ...
. Supporters of Soglo also secured a majority in the National Assembly.
["Background Note: Benin"]
U.S. Department of State (June 2008). Benin was thus the first African country to effect successfully the transition from dictatorship to a pluralistic political system.
In the second round of National Assembly elections held in March 1995, Zoglo's political vehicle, the Parti de la Renaissance du Benin, was the largest single party but lacked an overall majority. The success of a party formed by supporters of ex-president Kérékou, who had officially retired from active politics, allowed him to stand successfully at both the 1996 and 2001 presidential elections.
[
During the 2001 elections, however, alleged irregularities and dubious practices led to a boycott of the run-off poll by the main opposition candidates. The four top-ranking contenders following the first round presidential elections were Mathieu Kérékou (incumbent) 45.4%, Nicephore Soglo (former president) 27.1%, ]Adrien Houngbédji
Adrien Houngbédji (born 5 March 1942) is a Beninese politician and the leader of the Democratic Renewal Party (''Parti du renouveau démocratique'', PRD), one of Benin's main political parties. He was President of the National Assembly of Benin ...
(National Assembly Speaker) 12.6%, and Bruno Amoussou
Bruno Ange-Marie Amoussou (born 2 July 1939) is a Beninese politician who was President of the National Assembly of Benin from 1995 to 1999https://assemblee-nationale.bj/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Histoire-et-patrimoine.pdf and Minister of Stat ...
(Minister of State) 8.6%. The second round balloting, originally scheduled for March 18, 2001, was postponed for days because both Soglo and Houngbedji withdrew, alleging electoral fraud. This left Kérékou to run against his own Minister of State, Amoussou, in what was termed a "friendly match."[
In December 2002, Benin held its first municipal elections since before the institution of Marxism-Leninism. The process was smooth with the significant exception of the 12th district council for Cotonou, the contest that would ultimately determine who would be selected for the mayoralty of the capital city. That vote was marred by irregularities, and the electoral commission was forced to repeat that single election. Nicephore Soglo's Renaissance du Benin (RB) party won the new vote, paving the way for the former president to be elected Mayor of Cotonou by the new city council in February 2002.][
National Assembly elections took place in March 2003 and were generally considered to be free and fair. Although there were some irregularities, these were not significant and did not greatly disrupt the proceedings or the results. These elections resulted in a loss of seats by RB—the primary opposition party. The other opposition parties, the Party for Democratic Renewal (PRD) led by the former Prime Minister Adrien Houngbedji and the Alliance Etoile (AE), joined the government coalition.][
Former ]West African Development Bank
The West African Development Bank - WADB (fr. Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement - BOAD / pt. Banco de Desenvolvimento do Oeste Africano - BDOA) is an international Multilateral Development Bank established in 1973 to serve the nations of F ...
Director Yayi Boni Yayi may refer to
* China-Taiwan Yayi Cup, a Go competition
*Thomas Boni Yayi
Thomas Boni Yayi (born 1 July 1951) is a Beninese banker and politician who was President of Benin from 2006 to 2016. He took office after winning the March 2006 presi ...
won the March 2006 election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
for the presidency in a field of 26 candidates. International observers including the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
, Economic Community of West African States
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...
(ECOWAS), and others called the election free, fair, and transparent. President Kérékou was barred from running under the 1990 constitution due to term and age limitations. President Yayi was inaugurated on April 6, 2006.[
Benin held legislative elections on March 31, 2007, for the 83 seats in the National Assembly. The Force Cowrie for an Emerging Benin (FCBE), a coalition of parties, closely linked to President Yayi, won a plurality of the seats in the National Assembly, providing the president with considerable influence over the legislative agenda.][
In March 2011, President Boni Yayi was re-elected with 53.13 percent of vote in the first-round of the ]election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
. His main rival rejected the results, claiming widespread irregularities.
In October 2015, Benin's former President Mathieu Kerekou, who ruled the country a total of 28 years during his two spells as president (1972-1991 and 1996-2006), died at the age of 82.
After President Boni Yayi had served maximum two five-year terms, businessman Patrice Talon
Patrice Guillaume Athanase Talon (born 1 May 1958) is a Beninese politician and businessman who has been President of Benin since 6 April 2016.
Early life and career
Talon is of Fon origin and was born in Ouidah. He descends from slave trader ...
succeeded him. Talon defeated prime minister Lionel Zinsou
Lionel Zinsou (born 23 October 1953) is a French–Beninese economist and investment banker who was Prime Minister of Benin from 2015 to 2016. Since June 2017, he has been the president of Terra Nova, a centre-left French think tank.
Early ...
, the candidate for Boni Yayi's Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin
The Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin (french: Forces Cauris pour un Bénin émergent, FCBE) is a political party of Benin, formed by supporters of president Yayi Boni. In the parliamentary election held on 31 March 2007, the party won 35 out ...
(FCBE), in the March 2016 presidential election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
.
In April 2021, incumbent Patrice Talon won re-election with 86 percent of the votes in the first round of the election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
. The change in election laws resulted in total control of parliament by president Talon’s supporters.
See also
*History of Africa
The history of Africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans and — around 300–250,000 years ago—anatomically modern humans (''Homo sapiens''), in East Africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of d ...
*History of West Africa
The history of West Africa has been divided into its prehistory, the Iron Age in Africa, the major polities flourishing, the colonial period, and finally the post-independence era, in which the current nations were formed. West Africa is west o ...
* List of heads of government of Benin
* List of heads of state of Benin
* Politics of Benin
* Cotonou history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
and timeline
A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events.
Timelines can use any suitable scale represen ...
Notes
References
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*
External links
Rulers.org — Benin
– List of rulers for Benin
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Benin
French West Africa