Benin President Patrice Talon looks set to clinch re-election after a tense ballot, with opposition figures and critics are accusing him of rigging.
The critiques believe the election was bound to go in his favour after sidelining opposition leaders from participating in the process.
A cotton tycoon first elected in 2016, Talon faced off against two little-known rivals while some of the West African country’s key opposition leaders boycotted the election.
Benin was once praised as a vibrant democracy in an often troubled region, but most opposition figures are now exiled, disqualified by electoral reforms or have been targeted for investigation by a special court.
Tensions rose ahead of the vote, with protests breaking out in several cities in opposition strongholds though voting went ahead mostly peacefully on Sunday.
In central and northern Benin, protesters blocked hundreds of cars and trucks travelling between the coast and the north.
But Joel Aivo, one of the opposition leaders disqualified from running, said he would not vote and had urged others to boycott the poll.
‘The president has chosen to run against himself in this unprecedented election,’ the FRD opposition movement said, adding that candidates had been ‘driven into exile, arrested, thrown in prison‘.
Voter turnout was low compared to past elections, according to initial data collected by a group of civil society organisations that deployed 1,400 observers. The official turnout was not yet announced.
On Thursday, in the central city of Save, two people died and five others suffered gunshot wounds after troops fired tear gas and live rounds in the air to break up a demonstration.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
