Writer and economist, rapporteur of Benin's National Conference
In the 10 March 1991 first round he took third place with 165,174 votes (14.21%); one reference gives 162,498 votes instead.
Beninese writer, economist and politician. Born in Porto-Novo in 1929, he served as Dahomey's information minister from 1960 to 1963. In the 1991 presidential election he placed third in the first round with 14.21% as the candidate of Notre Cause commune, and in 2006 he became Benin's first Médiateur de la République.
Career timeline
1958–1960In Paris wrote L'Afrique révoltée and Afrique debout and edited the left-wing paper L'Étudiant Noir.
1960–1963Secretary of state at the presidency and information minister of Dahomey.
1964–After a Harvard International Affairs Center appointment he taught at the Geneva Graduate Institute and Georgetown University.
1991–1996National Assembly deputy and chair of the commission on foreign relations, cooperation, development, defence and security.
1996–1999Minister of Planning, Economic Restructuring and Employment Promotion.
2006–2013First Médiateur de la République of Benin.
Asked in 2005 to change the constitution for a third term, he answered, "If you don't leave power, power will leave you."
Beninese leader who took power in the 1972 coup. He declared Marxism-Leninism in 1974 and established a people’s republic the following year. Amid economic crisis he accepted the 1990 National Conference’s transition and transferred power after losing to Soglo in 1991.
Career timeline
1961Aide-de-camp to President Hubert Maga
1967Chairman of the Military Revolutionary Council
1972Seized power in a military coup
1974Declared Marxism-Leninism the state ideology
1975Founded the People's Republic of Benin and a one-party state
In the 1991 runoff he won 67.7% against Kérékou, becoming the first opposition candidate in post-colonial Francophone Africa to win an election.
A Beninese politician and former World Bank official. He became transitional prime minister after the 1990 National Conference and defeated Kérékou in the 1991 presidential election. He led the transition from the socialist regime, rather than founding it.
