Governance > Success Stories

Achieving Transformational Democracy in Africa: Benin strikes again

Benin has witnessed important democratic achievements since its National Conference which transformed the country from a dictatorship to a democracy sixteen years ago. However, as the country was preparing for its 2006 presidential elections, many observers questioned whether this small African country would be able to sustain its reputation as the democratic model in the sub-region due to serious political and economic challenges

Findings from an Afrobarometer political study in July 2005 stated that "though 85% of Beninese can define democracy and 90% actively participate in elections, they do not fully understand the notion of accountability and how the choice of a political leader has some bearing on their livelihood". However, the results from the March 2006 presidential election depicted a different story. The Benin "democratic genius" struck again with a display of extraordinary maturity and wisdom on the part of the people of Benin, as they ignored a certain level of disorganization, particularly in the first round, and skeptically evaluated various allegations of fraud that swirled throughout the political class and the media. Instead, Benin's voters patiently, and insistently waited to see if they would be allowed to cast their votes freely, and that those votes would be counted fairly and transparently. They were, and the outcome of this election confirmed that the Beninese people in their conviction that the democratic system is the best possible way to choose their leaders. In the end, the electorate voted overwhelmingly for "change", the theme of President Thomas Boni Yayi's campaign.

Unlike the three previous experiences, organizing this year's presidential election was a roller coaster. A combination of age and term limits in the Constitution prevented the two political giants who have dominated the political scene over the past 16 years from running again. Both Mathieu Kérékou, who has ruled the country for 27 years, and his long-time political rival Nicéphore Soglo, who led the democratic transition after the 1990 National Conference are older than the 70-year age limit. There were attempts to maintain the Kérékou administration in power. In 2005, indications that President Kérékou and his supporters would try to amend the constitution to allow him to stay on in power beyond April 2005 met a strong and effective opposition from civil society. A coalition of NGOs initiated a billboard campaign "Ne touche pas à ma Constitution" (Don't touch my constitution). The government's move to tear down all of the billboards sparked uproar, and citizens began to increasingly assert the need for new leadership in 2006.

The months immediately preceding the elections were marked with new crises. First the government pleaded that there were not enough funds to organize the elections, but concerted efforts by donors (including the U.S.), the Independent National Election Commission (CENA), civil society, and a number of public servants of integrity ensured that an adequate budget could be cobbled together from various sources. Further attempts to postpone the presidential elections by arguing it would be more cost-effective to "couple" them with the next legislative and local elections in 2008 also met a resounding "no" from civil society organizations. Benin civil society stakeholders and the media deserve recognition for their courage and wisdom in orchestrating an outstanding advocacy strategy that not only prevented attempts to tamper with Benin's constitution but also pressured a reluctant government to organize commendable elections. The majority of international and local observers overwhelmingly declared both rounds of the presidential elections as being participatory, free, fair and transparent, making this one of the most successful presidential elections to date in sub-Saharan Africa.

The uncertainties over the elections budget caused by the government contributed to a few glitches, including a shortened voter registration period due to the strike of unpaid poll workers, delays in dispatching equipment, shortage of essential electoral commodities, lack of adequate training of poll workers and fears of fraud. Nonetheless, voters decided, contrary to the norm in Africa, to participate in a contest that took place without any significant violence, calls for ethnic solidarity, or vote buying so unfortunately common in many parts of Africa. Candidates campaigned freely throughout the country without serious incidents and benefited from equal access to public media. In addition, civil society launched an aggressive campaign a few days before the election against electoral fraud. The anti-fraud awareness campaign served as a deterrent and discouraged many fraudulent voters (foreigners as well as under-age) from participating in this year's elections.

In a field of 26 candidates, some of them highly experienced politicians, the fact that Dr. Thomas Boni Yayi a former President of West African Development Bank is new to the Benin political scene appealed to voters. Dr. Yayi's opponents criticized his lack of political experience, claiming his lack of understanding the country's needs would make it difficult for him to govern effectively. But as an outsider he struck a chord with many voters and the majority of the political class. Many view Dr. Yayi as a chance for real change and hope. In a second-round run-off, Dr. Yayi won by landslide victory over the more politically experienced Adrien Houngbédji, a former President of the National Assembly and former Prime Minister under President Kérékou. With turn-out in both rounds of over 60 percent, despite logistical difficulties both times, the 2006 presidential elections mark a new standard of political engagement by Benin's people, and a determination to use their rights to demand change. To his credit, President Kérékou not only respected the results of this year's elections, but contributed over the last several years to this process of effective citizen protest by increasingly involving citizens in decisions that affect their livelihoods and progressively liberalizing freedom of association and freedom of the press.

However, his administration's lack of effectiveness in energetically pursuing important policy reforms has also contributed to the frustration leading to this protest. Over the last ten years, Beninese have become increasingly critical of a political system that has been weak in fighting corrupt practices, showing political and economic leadership or demanding accountability to the law.

This 2006 election also demonstrated that the key to grassroots democracy is civil society empowerment. Instead of opting for never-ending confrontations, Benin's citizens used their voting rights to empower a new generation of leaders who can drive Benin out of poverty, foster good governance and face the economic development challenges of the 21st century. Amid several poles of conflict in the region, Benin through this election gave an authentic lesson in democracy to the whole world

USAID has a fine track record of providing support to civil society, beginning 15 years ago with a decision to target grassroots democracy as a means to empower civil society and promote transparency and accountability. Among the major Democracy and Governance interventions supported by USAID in the early nineties, strengthening Benin's electoral administration was the most challenging. USAID contributed to the introduction of a single ballot and transparent ballot boxes for the first time in francophone Africa; the establishment of an autonomous electoral commission (the CENA) with a permanent administrative secretariat; and the commissioning of studies in 1999 and 2000, jointly with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Denmark, on the feasibility of implementing a permanent computerized voter registry to reduce the cost of operations, increase reliability of data, and insure greater safeguards of the voter registry against electoral fraud. USAID funded other election support activities such as awareness raising on the risk of violence during elections and promoting tolerance among competitors, election monitoring by NGOs, encouraging women's participation by focusing on the secrecy of the vote, and voter education about the advantages of the single ballot.

To promote issue-based elections, USAID trained candidates for 2002 local elections in basic public speaking skills and debating techniques, assisted political parties in developing party platforms and policy agendas, sponsored public fora to allow election candidates to present their political programs and communicate with their constituents. USAID assisted the Chamber of Accounts of the Supreme Court to organize a series of workshops for political party leaders on campaign finances. A civil society led voter education campaign to encourage the political parties to base the campaign on candidates' programs (issues) instead of personalities was also funded by USAID along with training on investigative journalism for the media.

To increase citizens' participation in decision making, USAID initiated activities in 1996 to reinforce the management and advocacy capacities of several civil society organizations. With USAID funds, partner NGOs conducted awareness and advocacy campaigns and public debates on radio and TV on various issues including the negative impact of corruption. Today these "alumni" of USAID capacity building activities are among the most professional NGOs in Benin. They have successfully been able to obtain funding from other donors and are working as senior partners to smaller community based organizations.

USAID's investment in reinforcing Benin's civil society, reforming election administration and promoting transparency and accountability through its governance program has contributed to Benin's success in organizing the most peaceful, participative, transparent, issue based and fair election in the history of Benin, if not all of Africa, in March 2006.

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