Mathieu Kérékou, (born Sept. 2, 1933, Kouarfa, French Dahomey [now Benin]—died Oct. 14, 2015, Cotonou, Benin), Beninese military and political leader who seized power in a military coup (1972), declared (1974) a one-party Marxist-Leninist state, renamed (1975) the country the People’s Republic of Benin, and ruled with an iron fist for almost 20 years. In 1991, however, he became the first sub-Saharan African strongman to step down peacefully in favour of a democratically elected president, and in 1996 he won election to that office. Kérékou attended military school and served in the French colonial army until Dahomey gained independence in 1960. He was named chairman of the country’s Military Revolutionary Council following a coup engineered in 1967 by his cousin Maurice Kouandété, but the latter was unable to hold on to power. (Kérékou later pardoned Kouandété, who had been sentenced to death by his successors.) Although Kérékou brought political stability to the country, his social and economic policies, which included nationalizing the banking and oil industries, failed, and Benin struggled economically even after he abandoned (1989) Marxism. He briefly changed his first name to Ahmed following a reported conversion to Islam in 1980, but he later reverted to using Mathieu and referred to himself as a born-again Christian. In 1987 Kérékou resigned from the army and declared himself to be a civilian head of state. Three years later he promulgated a new constitution and scheduled multiparty elections for 1991. He lost the presidency to Nicéphore Soglo but came back to defeat Soglo in 1996. Kérékou was reelected in 2001, but he was barred by the constitution from seeking a third term.

Melinda C. Shepherd