Maurice Kouandété, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Maurice Kouandété

Military Officer

Date of Birth: 22-Sep-1932

Place of Birth: Natitingou, Atakora Department, Benin

Date of Death: 07-Apr-2003

Profession: military personnel, politician, soldier

Nationality: Benin

Zodiac Sign: Virgo


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About Maurice Kouandété

  • Iropa Maurice Kouandété (22 September 1932 – 7 April 2003) was a military officer and politician in Benin (known as Dahomey until 1975).
  • He was born to Somba parents in the Gaba District of Dahomey.
  • Kouandété enrolled in the army in his late teens.
  • Over the years, he became popular among junior soldiers in the north and gained the contempt of those in the south.
  • Jim Hoagland of The Washington Post described Kouandété as a "moody, brilliant and highly ambitious soldier".On 17 December 1967 Kouandété led a military coup and toppled President Christophe Soglo.
  • Kouandété seized the presidency, although he was unsure how to wield it.
  • He handed power to Alphonse Alley two days later, and forced him to retire in 1968 in favor of Kouandété's choice, Emile Derlin Zinsou.
  • Kouandété was appointed chief of staff of Dahomey's 1,500-man army and launched another coup against Zinsou, on 10 December 1969, to defend it.
  • The military did not recognise Kouandété as legitimate, and the elections that followed paved the way toward a Presidential Council form of government.
  • Kouandété attempted to usurp to power again at dawn on 23 March 1972, but the convoluted plot was foiled and Kouandété was sentenced to death.
  • Kouandete was immediately pardoned when Major Mathieu Kérékou, his cousin, seized power on 26 October.
  • After his pardon, Kouandété retired from military life and died in 2003.

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