Democracy, can be defined as the peaceful transfer of power from one political power to the other.
Whilst Countries such as , Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, Mauritius, Senegal and South Africa have not only earned the enviable reputation as beacons of political rights and civil liberties but the smooth transfer of power from one political group to the other ,represents victory for democracy in the aforementioned countries and has well been hailed across the world.
Election-related violence has been a growing trend in African countries since the emergence of democracy in the continent in the early 1990s. It has led to many deaths and displacement of humankind. In Kenya, Ivory coast, Nigeria etc. Most of the elections held in Africa have been characterized by sporadic or prolonged violence and thousands of people have been killed and properties destroyed in countries like Sudan, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Rwanda, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Burundi, The Democratic Republic of Congo and others. Women and children are among the worst victims of war and violence resulting from election disturbances.
This observable but unfortunate trend is a pitfall to the survival of democracy and human security on the continent.
Up until 1985, Benin held the dubious record of most coups since independence in Africa. However, this changed in 1990 when President Mathieu Kérékou began the country’s transition to democracy by convening the National Conference.
The National Conference sat for ten days in February 1990. This resulted in a new constitution and multiparty elections the following year. As such, the Beninois model became the standard for democratic transitions in the region. Kérékou famously lost the 1991 presidential election and conceded defeat to his opponent Nicéphore Soglo. Since the first presidential elections, Benin has seen four peaceful transitions of power.
An outstanding but silent milestone, deserves a commendation for an exemplary change of power through the ballot box in Africa.
In an era, when the watching world was unsure for the transfer of power from one political group to the other, President Jerry John Rawlings, was Ghana’s democrat, a development, which propelled Ghana, as an oasis of peace and stability. Same can be praised for the historic statesmanship role and leadership of Benin’s former president, Mr. Mathieu Kérékou, the enviable political dispensation of the former French colony can be credited to the late president, who peacefully passed away on 14 October 2015. Like his counterpart, President Rawlings, he peacefully handed over power to the opposition, a rarity in Africa’s politics.
As small and quiet as it is, Benin has demonstrated itself as inspiration of democracy in Africa, particularly among the French countries, to the unknown of the world.
Benin has experienced economic growth over the past few years and is one of Africa's largest cotton producers.
The country, has one of the region's most diverse media landscapes, with an impressive number of its citizens on the internet, an effective tool and development to further flourish its democracy.
The Republic of Benin is from north to south a long stretched country in West Africa, situated east of Togo and west of Nigeria, it is bordered to the north by Burkina Faso and Niger, in south by the Bight of Benin, in the Gulf of Guinea, that part of the tropical North Atlantic Ocean which is roughly south of West Africa. Benin's coastline is just 121 km (75 mi) long.
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