Mathieu Kérékou

A Marxist-Leninist military ruler, Kérékou faced economic collapse and mass protest in 1989 and agreed to a National Conference of civil society, which stripped him of most powers and organised elections. He lost to Nicéphore Soglo in 1991 and accepted the result, making Benin one of the first African countries in the democratic wave to remove a sitting ruler at the ballot box. He returned by winning the 1996 election and stood down in 2006 when term and age limits barred him.