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The year 2020 marked 60 years of Benin’s independence, which was celebrated modestly as compared with the 50th anniversary, without the traditional parade of security and defence forces, and without foreign guests. Though Benin, like other countries, had to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, the low-key celebrations also symbolised the relatively morose political atmosphere, resulting from the recent controversial elections.
In 2019, the government of President Patrice Guillaume Athanase Talon continued with some of the political, economic, and social reforms considered essential for the emergence of the country, according to the ‘Bénin révélé’ programme. However, the very nature of some political reforms, and the way opposition and dissent were treated, produced a general feeling that individual and democratic freedoms were being increasingly undermined.