The Beninese opponent, Joël Aïvo, faced the judge of the Court of Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (Criet). The trial opened this Thursday, July 15, 2021. In detention since 11 April, the day after the presidential election, the constitutional expert is being prosecuted for “undermining state security and money laundering.” Accusations that the opponent has always challenged despite his detention. The trial was postponed until August 5.

The trial of the opponent, Joël Aïvo, began on Thursday 15 July 2021. Arrested in the street the day after the presidential election in April, the professor, renowned in the African continent for his knowledge in the constitutional field, will be tried for “undermining the security of the State and money laundering”. He was presented to the judge with his co-accused: a retired soldier, a non-commissioned officer still serving, and the one who manages the finances of his political movement, Dynamique Aïvo. A group of Beninese and European lawyers has been hired to defend the opponent who totally denies the facts that are alleged against him.They are former President of the Bar Robert Dossou, Professor Barnabé Georges Gbago, French Christophe Bass and François Mazon, as well as their Belgian colleague Ludovic Hennebel. These black dresses, according to the information provided by Rfi, are allowed to consult their client’s file. 

Joel Aïvo appeared and his trial was dismissed. His lawyers have filed an application for parole, which will be reviewed by the Cree on August 5, 2021. Created in 2018, the legal institution is, for opponents of the regime of Patrice Talon, an instrument of liquidation of potential presidential candidates.

The former Dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the National University of Benin (UNB) will be in prison on July 18, 2021, until his 48th birthday.

This is probably the highlight of the second day of the West African Citizens’ Summit on Good Governance, Alternation and Democracy in Cotonou. As announced yesterday (Pan-African on the limitation of the number of presidential mandates.), the Head of State of Benin Patrice Talon honored his presence on the second day. And beyond a mere presence, the good surprise is that the President of Benin made a public commitment, this Saturday, July 10 in the blue room of the Cotonou Congress Palace, to hand over power in May 2026 at the end of his second mandate in 2026.

“(…) I measure the scope of the relay and before you how much I will commit myself, take you to witness to pass this relay, on the third Sunday of May 2026, to the one who will have the confidence of the Beninese people,” solemnly declared Patrice Talon, in his speech for the occasion. An announcement greeted with ovations fed by the assistance made up mostly of young people. Moreover, he wants to pass on this relay to his successor to perpetuate the tradition of alternation. “I would like to assure you that I will ask for a derogation from the State Protocol so that the symbol of alternation that you have just handed over to me becomes part of the elements of the charging ritual,” he said, adding: “I will take good care of it and pass it on to my successor and tell him to read the number 2 carefully.”
The relay of which the Beninese President speaks, is a sceptre symbolizing the alternation given to him by the Social Universities of Togo (UST), by the hands of their Coordinator, Prof David Dosseh. This witness is made of two materials, ebony and gold, produced by two craftsmen, a Togolese cabinetmaker and a Senegalese jeweller, and contains 20 grams of gold. The 2 symbolizes the maximum number of mandates defended by the civil society present in Cotonou.

Patrice Talon in fact responded favourably to a request from the latter asking him to be the embodiment of political alternation in the ECOWAS area, the central issue or the finality of this meeting of Cotonou, while refusing to be cited as an example or lecturer in the promotion of this ideal in West Africa.“Excellency, can your country produce a vaccine against this pandemic?” created by the “3rd mandate virus in Africa?” “Could you then accept this symbolic witness so that Cotonou becomes the mandate-limiting capital of Africa?” , these are the questions asked by Prof David Dosseh.

In other words, Patrice Talon undertakes publicly and solemnly to respect the Constitution of Benin, the limitation of the presidential mandate inscribed there in golden letters, not to run for a 3rd term and therefore to transmit the 3rd Sunday of May 2026 to his successor who will be elected. This commitment by the President of Benin to the youth of ECOWAS seals the total success of this citizen summit organized by the UST, the Centre for Research on the Rule of Law in Africa (CREA), the Tournons La Page Coalition (TLP) and other partners.

We’ll come back to that.

Source : Le Tabloid

The President of the Republic of Benin, Patrice Talon, re-elected with more than 65% at the end of the presidential election of April 11, 2021, was sworn in before the members of the Constitutional Court this Sunday, May 23 at the Charles De Gaulle stadium of Porto-Novo, located in the capital of the country. An opportunity taken by the Head of State to outline the direction of his new policy in this second five-year term. Priority will now be given to the social sector, since Patrice Talon is often accused of not providing sufficient assistance to the population. Its new policy will be based on the following pillars: education, health and energy.

The Head of State of Benin, Patrice Talon, was officially installed in his office on Sunday, May 23, 2021. Re-elected to a second five-year term, the 63-year-old man intends to reorient priorities and rely on the social component to relieve the population. With this in mind, he called on the opposition and all the vital forces of the nation to go to the essentials and put aside the differences noted throughout the electoral process. The elections, as well as the misunderstandings or quarrels they generate, are now a thing of the past,” the Head of State recalled at the beginning of his speech during the inauguration ceremony.

Its first mandate was more focused on infrastructure, finance, agriculture and industry. Now, in the PAG (Programme of Action of the Government) which defines the policy of the State and the direction of the budget, access to drinking water will be strengthened. Although notable efforts have been made by the Beninese government to increase the rate of drinking water supply from 45% to 70% in the first five-year period, Patrice Talon’s goal is to ensure that all Beninese citizens have access to safe drinking water before the end of 2023. From now on, our challenge, our leitmotiv must be to […] consolidate our march towards progress by remaining mobilized and united in our fight against poverty, our real and only enemy. [… ‘This is what will enable us to meet the challenge of making drinking water available throughout Benin by the end of 2023,’ he said.

The energy sector will also occupy a major place in the new policy of the Beninese head of state. With this, the former cotton tycoon intends to develop this key sector of the wearer by further increasing production. It is this same state of mind that will lead us in 30 months to energy self-sufficiency after having raised our production level in five years from almost zero to 60% of our needs. This will promote the provision of electricity to all, in all our communities,” he added.

Patrice Talon, who was re-elected with more than 65% of the vote, was often criticized for having devoted his entire policy to infrastructure during his first term in office. intends to rectify the situation by investing much more in the field of health to improve the technical plateau of hospitals, and in the field of education. In this last mandate at the head of Benin, Patrice Talon wants to make his mark by significantly raising the standard of living of Beninese citizens. My wish is that it be established at the end of the mandate, that I have given the best of myself for our common satisfaction and that I truly deserve to be called “Agbon non” he launched by recalling the nickname [owner of the breath», which his supporters gave him.