Kuffuor, Obasanjo, Bongo, Others At Kerekou's Swearing-in

President Mathieu Kerekou was on Friday sworn-in for another five-year term following his victory in the controversial polls that left him with little or no opposition.

The ceremony, which took place at the Constitutional Court and National Assembly in Porto Novo, was attended by eminent African heads of states including President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Alpha Onmar Konere of Mali.

Others were Mamadou Tandfa of Niger Republic, Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema, Angie Felix Patasse of the Central African Republic, Gabon's Onmar Bongo, Blaisse Campaore of Burkina Faso, Ghana's John Kuffour, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire's Laurent Gbagbo.

Also in attendance were delegations from other countries and some international organisations. First round elections were held on March 4 in which Kerekou was proclaimed the winner with 47% of the votes cast. Former president, Neliphore came second, followed by National Assembly President Adneri Houngbedji.

The second round held on March 22 was boycotted by both Soglo and Houngbedi amidst allegation of fraud and irregularities. Both men wanted a re-run of the first round, a request that was reflected by the country's independent National Elections Commission. This left Kerekou in the race with feeble opposition in Bruno Amoussou, a minister in Kerekou's government to contend with. Prior to that, Amoussou had already indicated his decision to throw his weight behind Kerekou.

In the second round pools, Kerekou obtained 84% of the votes, leaving his associate and minister, Amoussou with only 15%.

In sharp contrast to the first, the second round was marked by a massive boycott in apparent response to opposition calls.

In his inaugural speech, President Kerekou appealed to all politicians in Benin to contribute towards the development of the country instead of calling for war. He promised to do his best to unite the people of Benin before the end of his tenure to show the rest of the world that Africans are now matured for democracy.