{UAH} Newly Elected Benin President to restore Presidential Term Limits to only one 5 year term
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RARE DEMOCRACY IN AFRICAN POLITICS: Newly Elected Benin President to restore Presidential Term Limits to only one 5 year term
By Patrick Jaramogi
As "power Hungry" African leaders are busy bribing the electorate and legislators to have un-constitutional presidential term limits wide open, news coming in from Benin is rather 'shocking' in relation to the democracy of African politics.
The newly elected Benin president Patrice Talon who is set to replace former president Thomas Boni Yayi in last week's presidential elections shocked many when he said he has plans to reduce presidential mandates to just one five-year term. Thomas Boni Yayi stepped down after serving for two terms.
Patrice Talon defeated Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou by 65% of the votes following a run off held last Sunday. Thomas Boni has been president for Benin since 2006 having won the two presidential elections in 2006 and 2011. "I will first and foremost tackle constitutional reforms," Talon told reporters, reinforcing a promise made during campaigning. One term of five years would reduce presidential "complacency."
By relinquishing power after serving two terms in office, Boni Yayi stands in contrast to leaders in other African nations, including Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Congo Republic, who have altered their constitutions to extend their rule.
Talon said his government will be made up of 16 members, down from the 28 members of the outgoing government. Under the current Benin laws, all presidents can currently serve (10 years) two five-year terms. Benin, a French speaking west African nation has a population of slightly over 10 million people.
Yayi, a former head of the Togo-based West African Development Bank, lost considerable support during an economic downturn and a pyramid investment scheme scandal in 2010. This scandal involved several senior officials, and more than 100,000 people are reported to have lost their money.
Born in 1952 into a Muslim family in the north, Yayi later became an evangelical Christian. His predecessor, former army major Mathieu Kerekou, seized power in 1972, and with the exception of five years, ruled until 2006, when he was barred from running for office by a constitutional age limit.
Who is Patrick Talon?
The New Benin President is a renowned prominent businessman in Benin, he is also known as the "king of cotton". Talon won the 2016 presidential election after a run-off vote in March.
In the first round of the election earlier in the month, Talon came second to Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou, the candidate of the ruling party, who also had the backing of President Boni Yayi. In the run-off, Talon got 65% of the votes while Zinsou secured 35%.
Talon was formerly a close ally of the outgoing president, and financed his campaigns for the 2006 and 2011 elections. He fled to France after being accused of involvement in a plot to poison Mr Boni Yayi in 2012 – an allegation he strongly denies. Talon received a presidential pardon in May 2014 and returned from exile in October 2015.
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