Democracy and Governance >Programs

BENIN-NDI Final Quaterly Report :

In December 2000, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) commenced a three-month program to support the electoral process for the presidential elections in Benin. In January and February 2001, NDI conducted pollwatcher training-of-trainers (training-of-trainers) seminars in Cotonou and various regions throughout the country. The Institute successfully trained more than 300 pollwatchers, who in turn trained members of their respective parties on how to monitor the election. In addition, NDI developed, in collaboration with political parties and the Commission Electoral National Autonome (CENA), a pollwatcher guide. NDI published 8,000 copies of the guide, which were then distributed to the political parties and served as a key resource for party trainers and pollwatchers. Also in this quarter, preparations began to close the Benin office in April as program activities have now concluded.

Since a national conference in 1990 that began Benin's movement towards a more open and accountable system of government, the country has been acknowledged as a pioneer among Africa's emerging democracies. Benin was the first African country to experience two consecutive democratic transfers of power from an incumbent president to an opposition challenger. At a time when countries like Senegal and Ghana are only beginning to experience elections where the incumbent loses to the opposition, in 2001 Benin was poised for yet another presidential election that held the possibility of ushering in a new government.

However, the 2001 Benin presidential election surprised, confounded and troubled many watchers who were expecting "good," even uneventful, elections in a country often described as Africa's vanguard in democracy. The general expectation was that the election would come down to a predictable run-off between incumbent Mathieu Kerekou and former president Nicephore Soglo, who have alternated power since 1991. However, this expectation never came to pass.

Following the announcement of results from the first round March 4 election, Soglo, who reportedly garnered 27% of the vote to Kerekou's 45%, made allegations of electoral fraud. He pointed to discrepancies between the voter lists used by the CENA (the electoral commission) and the Constitutional Court in announcing the election results and called for the results to be annulled. However, the Constitutional Court let the results from the first round stand, and Soglo pulled out from the second round in protest.

Soglo's boycott left Adrien Houngbedji, the National Assembly President who placed third in the polls, the next in line to face Kerekou. Houngbedji, who had allied himself with Soglo following the first round, also declined to run, citing the same concerns as Soglo. During this period, nine members of the CENA associated with Soglo and Houngbedji's parties also resigned from their positions with complaints that the commission lacked transparency and equity.

After Houngbedji and Soglo's boycott, Bruno Amoussou remained as Kerekou's challenger. Amoussou, a minister in the president's cabinet, had won only 8% of the vote in the first round. Amoussou, however, had come out in support of Kerekou following the first round; therefore, it seemed unlikely he would run against his ally. Nevertheless, Amoussou declared his candidacy and ran against Kerekou on March 22 without having any time to campaign. Amoussou expressed that he was running to help save Benin's democracy. Some Beninese characterized the run-off election as "un match amical" (a friendly match) while others considered it a masquerade. Voter turnout was reported to be between 47% and 53%, in stark contrast to 85% of voters who came out for the first round, an indication that the boycott was effective. Unsurprisingly, Kerekou won with a landslide victory, garnering 84% of the vote to Amoussou's 16%.

Despite the controversy that surrounded the 2001 presidential election, it was conducted peacefully and most Beninese seem prepared to move on. For instance, Houngbedji sent Kerekou a letter congratulating him on his reelection. These polls also marked the beginning of the end of an era in Beninese politics as they represented the "last stand" for Soglo and Kerekou; that is, they will both be ineligible to run for president in the next election due to a constitutional age limit that disqualifies candidates older than 70 years of age. In April, Kerekou will be sworn in to serve his final term as president.

NDI's overarching objective in conducting this program was to promote a more transparent and democratic electoral process in Benin and bolster citizen confidence and participation in this process. Specifically, NDI aimed to increase the capacity of parties to organize a nationwide effort to protect their electoral rights through pollwatcher training, thereby enhancing the integrity of the process.

From January 30-31, NDI-Benin conducted a multiparty national workshop for over 40 political party representatives on how to observe the registration, voting and vote-counting processes. The seminar presenters included Parfait Moukoko, NDI-Benin field representative and election processes expert; Professor Moise Bossou, a constitutionalist and former member of the CENA; and Alain Ayadokoun, NDI-Benin local program assistant. The seminar presentations included an overview of the electoral code, the role and mission of political party agents in the electoral process, and a thorough review of a draft version of the pollwatcher guide produced by NDI for the 2001 elections. Participants were also given an opportunity to ask questions following each presentation for elaboration on various points raised, allowing for open and frank discussion among this politically diverse group.

Following the presentations and the question and answer period, participants were divided into two workshop groups. In the first workshop, participants were given the opportunity to review and comment on the draft pollwatcher guide. NDI found this to be an effective exercise in refining the elements in this guide, making them more applicable to and understandable for the Beninese party agents. It was also a way to allow the parties to take ownership of this tool because they were to be the primary beneficiaries. The second workshop focused on gaining input from the participants on how to structure the regional training-of-trainers workshops. Concrete recommendations came out of both workshops, which were later incorporated in the final draft of the pollwatcher guide and in the implementation of the regional pollwatcher training workshops.

At the end of the seminar, NDI also distributed copies of the electoral code to participants, many of whom were seeing the code for the first time. One participant described the national seminar as follows: "This seminar is very important at this time. If the representatives of candidates [political party pollwatchers] are well utilized, one could considerably reduce fraud and guarantee transparent e lections in Benin."

After incorporating comments from party leaders who attended the January National Seminar and from members of the CENA, NDI published eight thousand copies of NDI's pollwatcher guide, Elections Presidentielles de 2001 au Benin: Guide des Representants de Candidats ou Partis Politique dans le Bureau de Vote. The guide was distributed to the political parties at the regional workshops and served as key resources for party trainers and pollwatchers during the trainings and on election day.

Following the national workshop, NDI conducted a series of three training-of-trainers workshops in mid-February for 200 candidate representatives in regions representing the northern, middle and southern departments of the country. The daylong workshops were held over a five-day period in Parakou, Abomey and Cotonou. In addition to NDI representatives Moukoko and Ayadokoun, several Beninese elections experts facilitated sessions during the pollwatcher training. The workshop consisted of presentations on the objectives of the training-of-trainers workshops, the essential components of the electoral code, the role of political party agents at the polls, NDI's pollwatcher guide, and techniques for training other party agents. Finally, the day ended with a simulation exercise of how a polling office operates on election day and the role of the party agent from the time the polling office is opened to the time the agents report is handed to the candidate. Following their participation in NDI's workshops, party representatives trained members of their respective parties on how to monitor the election. NDI continued to offer technical assistance during this period, attending seven workshops organized by various political parties throughout the country.

Moukoko and Ayadokoun, with the assistance of four other individuals, deployed to six departments-Littoral, Oueme, Plateau, Zou, Mono and Couffo- to observe the vote on March 4. This activity was also an opportunity for the Benin team to evaluate how well the pollwatchers at the base had been trained by the political parties. The team concluded from its informal observation effort that there were no major incidents, though there were irregularities. Some of the irregularities noted included: insufficient voting materials at all polls observed; polls opening up to two hours late; and the presence of administrative authorities such as prefects and mayors at some polls, which is an illegal infraction. The team also noted that some pollworkers were inadequately trained.

Follow-up training-of-trainers Training

Responding to repeated requests from political parties for more party pollwatcher training during the period leading up to the run-off, NDI made plans to conduct four "refresher" workshops focusing on party agents from the parties of the two candidates and their allied parties. These sessions were intended to review some of the practical problems pollwatchers faced in the first round election and reinforce their skills. NDI was able to hold three of the four planned workshops in mid-March before Houngbedji and Soglo's boycott. In all, the Institute trained or re-trained an additional 150 pollwatchers during the pre run-off period.

In January, USAID contacted NDI to implement a program to offer technical assistance to a local civil society group, Le Groupe Independent de Reflexion pour le Renforcement de la Democratie (Debates Commission), to organize and broadcast presidential candidate debates. A new grant was issued to conduct this activity. As Moukoko and Ayadokoun were occupied implementing the pollwatcher training program, NDI decided that it would be more effective to have a full-time staff member, Jacqueline Corcoran, a former Chief of Staff to a member of the US Congress, to execute this program. NDI also identified a short-term pro bono expert, Diana Carlin who is an advisor to the US Presidential Debates Commission to craft concrete recommendations on organizing presidential debates in Benin. Prior to Corcoran and Carlin's February arrival in Benin, Ayadokoun and Moukoko made initial contact with the Debates Commission, gathering more information on their mission and program plans, making necessary logistical arrangements and setting up appointments for the new team.

The Beninese government's delay in passing the electoral code and finalizing the electoral calendar required that NDI move back its program timetable by a few weeks as it was vital to have the electoral code in place before developing the pollwatcher guide in order to properly train political party agents. However, despite the delay, the Benin team was able to accomplish all of the training activities NDI had proposed to implement within this three-month period. In addition, NDI was able to conduct follow-on workshops in preparation for the second round to reinforce the trainings carried out prior to the first round.

NDI actively sought and acquired input from political parties as well as the CENA on the pollwatcher guide it developed so that it fit the Beninese electoral context and properly addressed situations that party agents would face at the polls on election day. In addition, seeking input from political parties during the National Seminar on the training-of-trainers workshops, NDI was able to tailor these workshops in a manner that would be most effective at the regional level.

Political parties also held their own pollwatcher trainings across the country and NDI was able to offer technical assistance. The number of pollwatcher trainings launched by various parties following the regional training-of-trainers workshops heartened NDI. Although NDI's team attended seven of these workshops held throughout the country, the team received numerous invitations to participate in others. Time constraints however limited the number of workshops the team could attend.

During its participation in pollwatcher workshops organized and conducted by various political parties, NDI noted that the trainers had properly grasped the lessons and techniques taught in NDI's regional training-of-trainers workshops. The parties that were observed conducted their sessions in a manner recommended by NDI's team, thoroughly going over the essential elements of the pollwatcher guide during their presentations and incorporating simulation exercises in their workshops. Moreover, the trainers were well versed in the rights, responsibilities, and tasks of party agents and were effective in passing these lessons on to their fellow party members.

In addition, during its observation of the first round election, the Benin team found trained party agents at all of the 107 polls observed, who either had original copies or reproductions of the pollwatcher guide, along with observation checklists. The party agents observed were well-prepared, equipped with tools needed to record their observations and actively engaged in their tasks at hand. Moreover, they understood their roles as pollwatchers and carried out their activities in a cordial manner. The team's conclusion from these observations was that the trainings that parties conducted at the base were indeed effective.

No one foresaw this year's presidential election controversy. Indeed, immediately following the first round, reports on the conduct of the election were generally favorable, as evidenced by positive statements released by the French government. In addition, a domestic observer group, L'Observatoire des Activiti(s Electorales, noted that aside from some irregularities, there were no major reports of electoral fraud. Nevertheless, fraud was evident in the discrepancies in the figures released by CENA and the Constitutional Court following the March 4 polls regarding the number of registered voters.

Perhaps this election controversy could have been foreseen considering the lengthy delays in finalizing the electoral calendar, which may have set the stage for a trouble-filled process. The electoral code was passed only a little more than a month before the election was to take place, which left the CENA scrambling to organize the election. For instance, only nine days were allotted from the time the voter registration period was to begin to when the electoral lists were compiled and posted, while only one day was scheduled for training poll workers.

The 2001 presidential election has certainly disappointed Beninese and others who thought this country was on an unfaltering course towards democratic consolidation. However, Benin's election woes are hopefully just a blip in its democratic course-an unfortunate but temporary setback and not a permanent deviation from its decade-long democratic progress. Nevertheless, the outcome of this election will tarnish Benin's image, since the country has prided itself as a democracy pioneer in the region.

Despite the larger questions about the elections, NDI attained its program goal. Political parties representatives from around the country were trained well enough to train their own agents, and provided with technical assistance during their individual pollwatchers trainings at the base, ultimately leading to their ability to effectively monitor the polls. However, the result NDI had anticipated from this program did not fully come to pass as political party and citizen confidence in the election outcome was clearly lacking in some sectors as evidenced by Soglo and Houngbedji's boycott of the second round election.

All activities have been completed under this program and no future activities are planned. NDI will finalize administrative and financial issues pertaining to this grant in the next quarter to close out this program.

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