The Union of Independents of Dahomey (french: Union des Indépendants du Dahomey, UNIDAHO) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

French Dahomey French Dahomey was a French colony and part of French West Africa from 1894 to 1958. After World War II, by the establishment of the French Fourth Republic in 1947, Dahomey became part of the French Union with an increased autonomy. On 4 Octob ...

led by

Paul Darboux Paul Darboux (May 10, 1919 - 1982) was a Beninese merchant and politician, most active when his country was known as Dahomey. Early life Darboux was born to a noble Djougou family on May 10, 1919. He soon became an important merchant, and a power ...

History

The party was established by Darboux in 1956 in the

Djougou Djougou is the largest city in northwestern Benin. It is an important market town. The commune covers an area of 3,966 square kilometres and as of 2002 had a population of 181,895 people. Djougou is home to a constituent monarchy. General infor ...

region in order to compete against

Hubert Maga Coutoucou Hubert Maga (August 10, 1916 – May 8, 2000) was a politician from Dahomey (now known as Benin).Dahomey was renamed Benin in 1975. Se''New York Times'' obituary He arose on a political scene where one's power was dictated by what regi ...

and the

Dahomeyan Democratic Movement The Dahomeyan Democratic Movement (french: Mouvement Démocratique Dahoméen, MDD) was a political party in French Dahomey. History The MDD was established in northern Dahomey by Hubert Maga in 1951 as the Ethnic Group of the North (''Groupement ...

(MDD).Mathurin C Houngnikpo & Samuel Decalo (2012) ''Historical Dictionary of Benin'', Scarecrow Press, p136 It was originally known as Defense of Economic Interests (''Défense des Intérèts Économiques'', DIE). It contested the 1956 elections to the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

, but received only 1.7% of the vote. Darboux won the Djougou seat in the March 1957 Territorial Assembly elections. By this time the party had been renamed the Independents of the North (''Indépendants du Nord''). In August 1957 the party merged with the MDD to form the

Dahomeyan Democratic Rally The Dahomeyan Democratic Rally (french: Rassemblement Démocratique Dahoméen, RDD) was a political party in French Dahomey led by Hubert Maga. History The party was established in August 1957 by a merger of the Dahomeyan Democratic Movement led ...

(RDD). However, Darboux left the RDD in April 1958 to re-establish his own party, now under the UNIDAHO name.Houngnikpo & Decalo, p305

References

Political parties established in 1956 1956 establishments in French West Africa Defunct political parties in Benin {{Benin-party-stub