Beninese politician
Reckya Madougou
(born 30 April 1974) is a
Beninese
politician. She served in the
Boni Yayi
cabinet twice: first as Minister of Microfinance, Youth and Women's Employment; and then as Minister of Justice.
Early life
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Madougou was born on 30 April 1974. In elementary school, she was interested in scouting. As an adult, she joined the Benin chapter of Jeune Chambre Internationale (JCI), eventually becoming a vice president.
[1]
Madougou graduated from the Institut National d'Economie (now the Ecole Nationale d'Economie appliquee et de Management) in Benin in 1997.
[1]
She received a diploma in Commercial Engineering from
ISG Lille
in 1998,
[2]
then a
Doctorate
in International Business from the
Institute of Higher International Studies
in 2000. She was chosen to represent Benin in the 2007
International Visitor Leadership Program
.
[1]
Career
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Madougou started her professional career by participating in the development of the Nasuba telecom LC 2 International project.
[2]
She then entered the Sales and Marketing department of the mobile operator GSM BB Com. She later became the Director of Sales and Marketing at Tunde Motors, holder of the
Volkswagen
manufacturing license for Benin. In 2006, she founded her own research and strategy consulting firm, International Key Consulting.
[3]
Political involvement
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Madougou initiated and led the
civil society
campaign "Don't touch my Constitution" (
French
:
Touche pas a ma Constitution
) in Benin from 2004 to 2006,
[4]
which inspired similar campaigns in
Senegal
,
Burkina Faso
and
Cameroon
.
[1]
Madougou served in the Cabinet from 2008 to 2013. Her first appointment was as Minister of Microfinance, Youth and Women's Employment. The programs she began helped over two million beneficiaries, mostly women, youths, small entrepreneurs, and farmers. She then became Minister of Justice. After leaving the Cabinet, she became a Special Advisor to the government of
Togo
.
[4]
As head of the political party Les Democrates, Madougou declared her intention to contest the
presidential election on 11 April 2021
; however, her candidacy was rejected as she did not have 16 signatures from supporting mayors or MPs. She was arrested on 3 March 2021 during a meeting with another opposition politician in
Porto-Novo
. A government spokesman accused her of "planning to assassinate several political figures", but did not announce a trial date.
[5]
On 4 April 2021, a Beninese judge who had gone into
exile
told
Radio France Internationale
that Madougou's arrest was solely political.
[6]
On 9 July 2021, Reckya Madougou's lawyers filed a request for the provisional release of their client with the prosecutor of the Court for the Repression of Economic Offenses and Terrorism.
[7]
Prison sentence
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On 11 December 2021, Madougou was found guilty of "complicity in terrorist acts" by the Economic Crime and Terrorism Court in the capital
Porto-Novo
and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
[8]
Publications
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- Soigner les certitudes
(with Stephens Akplogan). Editions Jean-Jacques Wuillaume, 2020.
[9]
[10]
- Mon combat pour la parole : les defis d'une mobilisation citoyenne pour la promotion de la gouvernance democratique
. L'Harmattan, 2008.
[11]
References
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External links
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