The country of Benin is a country located in the West of the African continent and is bordered with four countries, Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria and also has a coast along the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. There was once a kingdom within the country called the Kingdom of Dahomey, but was eventually annexed by the French into the rest of Benin which at the time was called the Republic of Dahomey and was part of the French Empire.
The country got autonomy in 1958 and then full independence from then what was called the French Community in 1960 and the country later changed its name to Benin in the mid-1970s.
The country is mostly known for the religion called Vodun which is commonly called Voodoo outside of the country. The country speaks French as a main language but also has many prominent ethnic languages from its diverse range of ethnic peoples, the largest ethnic group are the Fon people and the largest religion is Roman Catholic followed by Islam and Vodun.
The country’s capital is Porto-Novo, a port city located near the coast alongside an inlet that leads into the Gulf of Guinea.
The country is also known for its Pendjari National Park safaris.
Government Type
After the country’s independence it suffered a series of military coups and power struggles and eventually became a Marxist-Leninist dictatorship up until the successful transition to democracy that begun in 1991.
The country used to have both a Prime Minister and President but the Prime Ministerial position was abolished in 2016 and it is now a full presidential democratic republic. The President is both the Head of State and Head of Government.
Legislative government is made up of a unicameral democratically elected parliament and is a multi-party system.
The Executive Government
Patrice Talon is the current President of Benin. The Executive Government is headed by the President who as mentioned is Head of State, representing the country abroad and Head of Government, with a host of executive powers at his disposal.
The President is responsible for the nation’s defense and has the Civil Service and Armed Forces at his disposal. As Supreme Commander the President appoints the Superior Council of Defense from the Council of Ministers. The President can also order Armed Forces to cooperate in economic development of the Nation and others tasks of national interest under conditions defined by the law.
The President also has powers to appoint members of the executive government, with advice from the National Assembly (unicameral parliament), giving them, prerogatives and he can also remove them from their duties, all members of government are responsible to the President.
The President presides over a Council of Ministers that conducts government policies, government bills and ordinances and regulatory decrees.
The President also appoints three of the seven members of the Constitutional Court. On advice from the President of the National Assembly, the President will appoint a number of officials and members from the Council of Ministers to positions such as the President of the Supreme Court, President of the High Authority of Audiovisuals and Communications and the Grand Chancellor of the National Order
From the Council of Ministers, the President also appoints members of the Supreme Court, Ambassadors, special envoys, magistrates, general and superior officials and high office-holders.
The President also promulgates laws within 15 days that are passed by the National Assembly, or within 5 days if the National Assembly have declared an emergency. The President is able to ask the National Assembly to have a second deliberation of the passed law or certain articles, which cannot be refused. If parliament passes the bill again the President must promulgate it or he may be overruled by the Constitutional Court who will pass the bill into law instead if the President refuses to, just as long as the bill is not deemed unconstitutional. The same procedure happens if the President takes too long to promulgate the bill.
The above powers performed by the President must be countersigned by a relevant official/minister for it to have effect. Some powers don’t need to be countersigned, such as the power to pardon from crime.
The President can be impeached by the judiciary system if he fails to fulfil duties or breaks the constitution. He can also be dismissed from office by the National Assembly.
The Legislative Government
The Legislative government is made up of a single unicameral house of parliament that introduces through committees, amends, debates on and passes or rejects law bills which go on to be assessed and promulgated by the President, certain laws are known as organic law and for these to be promulgated, they must first be assessed by the Constitutional Court to make sure they follow the constitution. The chamber currently has a set 83 elected members.
If the President dies in office, is removed from power or resigns during his term or if it become vacant during the term for any other reason, the National Assembly will elect a new President to serve out the rest of the term.
The National Assembly can form committees of inquiry into the government.
The President keeps the parliament updated on his actions as per the constitution and the National Assembly keeps the President updated of its activities through the President of the Assembly. The President can be dismissed from office by the National Assembly with a two-thirds vote and will after this, if dismissed, elect a new President.
Also, by a two-thirds vote, the National Assembly can suspend the detention or pursuit of one of its members.
By a three-fourths vote the National Assembly can submit a question to national referendum.
The National Assembly must authorize declaration of wars, states of emergency or siege. If the National Assembly is unable to sit due to extraordinary circumstances, then the President can bring forth declaration of war to be authorized instead by the Council of Ministers.
Anyone appointed from the National Assembly to the government must vacate their seat.
The Electoral System
Presidential elections are held every 5-years to elect the President. Candidates require at least 50% of the popular vote to be elected, if this does not happen a 2nd round is held between the two best performing candidates from the previous round.
A single person can hold the office of president for a maximum of two terms (10 years) before having to step aside. To be eligible for President candidates must have Benin citizenship either from birth or have acquired it for at least 10 years, be of great morality and honesty, enjoys all civil and political rights, is at least 40-years old but no older than 70-years-old, resides in Benin during the time of elections and enjoys a state of physical and mental wellbeing which is duly verified by a collegiate board of three doctors sworn and designated by the Constitutional Court.
The unicameral National Assembly members are elected to 4-year terms in parliamentary elections. Members are elected from 23 multi-member constituencies using a party-list proportional representation system, where the result a party gets is reflected in the make-up of parliament using a determined formula.
Eligible candidates for the National Assembly must be at least 25-years-old, have Benin citizenship from birth or for at least 10-years, resided in Benin for at least a year. Certain things can disqualify candidates such as electoral fraud.
To vote in elections a person must have Benin citizenship, be at least 18-years-old, enjoy all civil and political rights. Some things disqualify voters such as being sentenced to at least three months in prison or being in contempt of court. Voting is not compulsory.
Thank you for reading this post, if you have any queries please Email me, you can find my Email in the Contacts & Community section. Please also follow The Weekly Rambler on Twitter and Facebook which you can access through the buttons at the bottom of this website. You can also use the social media buttons under each blogpost to share with your family, friends and associates. You can also subscribe to Email notifications at the right-side of this website to know whenever a new post goes up (you can easily unsubscribe from this at any time through a button in each Email notification), or alternatively you can use an RSS Feed Reader. Please also join my FB Group The Weekly Ramblers Readers Group where readers can more easily talk with each other and also with me whenever I am on, you can also find it in Community.