Mathieu Kérékou
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| Period in Office: | October 26, 1972-April 4, 1991; April 4, 1996- |
| Predecessor: | Justin Ahomadegbé (first time); Nicéphore Soglo (second time) |
| Successor: | Nicéphore Soglo (first time) |
| Date of Birth: | 1933 |
| Place of Birth: | |
(Ahmed) Mathieu Kérékou is the president of Benin.
He siezed power in a military coup in 1974, then made himself president, governing under a Marxist-Leninist ideology. Among his acts were renaming the country from Dahomey, to Benin. He allowed multi-party elections in 1991, which resulted in Nicéphore Soglo becoming president. He became president again in the 1996 elections and re-elected in 2001.
The constitution of Benin will prohibit him running again in 2006 as he will be older than 70 years, the limit, and he has made it known he is not planning to change this.
