Coutoucou Hubert Maga

Coutoucou Hubert Maga

Coutoucou Hubert Maga (born August 10, 1916 in Parakou , † May 8, 2000 in Cotonou ) was President of Dahomey from 1960 to 1963 and 1970 to 1972 .

Politician

Maga came from Parakou in the north of the then French Dahomey, today's Benin . He attended the École normal William Ponty . In 1947 he became a member of the Territorial Assembly of Dahomeys and in 1951 and 1956 elected a member of the National Assembly in Paris . For a short time he was State Secretary for Labor in the French government. He belonged to the Mouvement Démocratique Dahoméen party , which was renamed the Rassemblement Démocratique du Dahomé (RDD) in 1959 . His parties were part of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA) collection movement. Before his first term as Prime Minister, he was Benin's Minister of Labor.

President 1960 to 1963

On May 22, 1959, he became Prime Minister of Dahomey after his election victory over Sourou-Migan Apithy . After the country gained independence on August 1, 1960, he became the first state president. His party merged with that of his rival Apithy to form the Parti Dahoméen de l'Unité . After serious unrest in October 1963, he resigned and power was taken over by Chief of Staff Christophe Soglo . Maga went into exile for a few years .

President 1970 to 1972

On May 7, 1970, he became president for a second time after a three-member Presidential Council was established, which included the former presidents Justin Ahomadegbé-Tomêtin and Sourou-Migan Apithy. After two years, Ahomadegbé-Tomêtin took over the presidency on a rotating basis until the coup of Major Mathieu Kérékou took place on October 26th, which imprisoned the trio until 1981.

Last years

Maga was once again politically active when President Kérékou paved the way for democracy. On March 9, 1990, a council (Haut Conseil pour la République) was set up as a provisional supreme body. In addition to Maga, this council included the former heads of state Ahomadegbé-Tomêtin, Congacou and Zinsou. He later became a member of the Constitutional Court. He died in a hospital in Cotonou on May 8, 2000 and was buried in his hometown of Parakou. The government of President Kérékou, who has been in office again since 1996, ordered a seven-day state mourning .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Hubert MAGA. In: Assemblée nationale - Les députés de la IVe République. Assemblée nationale, accessed December 27, 2017 (French).