Elections in Republic of Benin

Benin is one of the 20 least developed countries in the world but I am proud to live in this democratic country. I have been living in Benin for 21 years.

Three weeks ago, my husband and I had been to the city hall in order to get our smart cards (finger prints, picture). Yes!! Benin has computerised its electoral list before President elections in March.

The Liste Electorale Permanente Informatisée (LEPI) is not a mirage for Beninese!

The Republic of Benin has decided to manage the secure biometric registration of voters. The program which targets all voting citizens, expects over six million people to be enrolled for the March 2011 persidential elections. The biometric registration is happening through a software which captures our demographic data, fingerprints, and digital photograph.

We are one of the poorest country countries on earth, but hey!!!! look at what Benin is doing for its citizens to help them be counted!

In Benin, the Constitution provides us with the right to change our government peacefully and the citizens of Benin exercise this right in practice through periodic, free and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.

Altogether, 14 candidates will take part in the poll. They are Marie Elise Gbédo (lawyer), Mr Adrien Houngbédji (the opposition candidate), Boni Yayi (incumbent president), Abdoulaye Bio Tchané (chairman of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), Issa Salifou (MP), Antoine Dayori (MP), Cyr Kouagou, Kessilé Tchalla (former minister of Health in the government of Bini Yayi), Christian-Enock Lagnidé (economic operator), Jean Yves Sinzogan (economist), Salomon Joseph Biokou, Victor Prudent Topanou (former minister of Yayi), Joachim Dahissiho (MP) and Janvier Yahouédéou (MP).

The presidential election is the fifth since Benin’s accession in 1991 to democratic regeneration.

The Benin government has postponed until 6 March the first round of the presidential election from 27 February, official sources told PANA in Cotonou.

A dozen political parties and associations have formed a broad coalition dubbed ’Coalition ABT-2011’, to arouse the candidacy of the Chairman of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), Abdoulaye Bio Tchané, as president of the Republic of Benin in 2011, APA notes Saturday in Cotonou.

Benin officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of the government is located in the country's largest city of Cotonou. Benin covers an area of approximately 110,000 square kilometers (42,000 sq mi), with a population of approximately 8.8 million. Benin is a tropical, sub-Saharan nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with substantial employment and income arising from subsistence farming.