Justin Ahomadegbé-Tomêtin (January 16,égbéTomê 1917 – March 8, 2002) was a Beninese politician most active when his country was known as Dahomey. He arose on a political scene where one's power was dictated by what region of Dahomey one lived in. He served as president of the National Assembly of Dahomey from April 1959 to November 1960 and as prime minister and vice president of Dahomey from 1964 to 1965.
Ahomadégbé became President as part of a system that rotated the office between three leading political figures: Ahomadégbé, Hubert Maga, and Sourou-Migan Apithy. Maga peacefully handed power to Ahomadégbé on May 7, 1972. On October 26, 1972, he was overthrown in a coup d'état led by Mathieu Kérékou. All three remained under house arrest until 1981.
Early life and entry into politics
Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin was born on January 16, 1917, a direct descendant of the kings of Abomey, the town of his birth. He attended the École William Ponty and the French West Africa School of Medicine in Dakar. He served in the French Army for a short while, where he attained the rank of sergeant. After his short military career, Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin decided to pursue dentistry, opening an office in Porto-Novo.
Originally a member of the Dahomeyan Progressive Union (UPD), in 1946 he established the African People's Bloc (BPA), and was elected to the General Council shortly afterwards. He was re-elected in 1952. In 1955 the BPA merged with the UPD to established the Dahomeyan Democratic Union (UDD). He was a vocal critic of the French rule, and gained influence upon allying himself with trade unions. Using this, Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin was elected Mayor of Abomey in November 1956 elections.
The results of the territorial elections of 1959 were as such: the Republican Party of Dahomey (PRD), led by Sourou-Migan Apithy received 37 seats with 144,038 votes; the Dahomeyan Democratic Rally (RDD), led by Hubert Maga received 22 seats with 62,132 votes; and Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin's UDD receiving just 11 deputies for its 162,179 votes. What followed was described by journalist Robert Matthews as "an immediate explosion". Supporters of Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin started riots that were so severe that French soldiers were called in to quell them. Apithy and Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin agreed to split the contested 18 seats in a southwest constituency among themselves as a result of a mediation performed by Félix Houphouët-Boigny. However, Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin made it clear that he would not allow Apithy to remain the Prime Minister of Dahomey, but Apithy was not going to listen to his demands. Maga was chosen as a compromise for the premiership and was voted into this post on May 22, 1959.
Independence and dissent
On August 1, 1960, Dahomey gained its independence and Maga became its first president. Shortly after independence, the three parties united into the "Patriotic Action Front" and redistricted Dahomey into one electoral constituency. Under this system, they would provide a list of candidates of whom whoever received a majority would win all legislative seats. It did not last long; soon, Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin broke from the union and, using the discontent among people over the increasing rarity of jobs in the country, incited demonstrations. In September 1960 he claimed that a single-party state was the only solution to the stagnation of the economy; since he had just broken from one, he was looking for another party to be led by him.
Meanwhile, Maga made Houphouët-Boigny recognise the RDD as the Dahomeyan wing of his African Democratic Rally. Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin had always believed that the UDD was the sole representative of the Rally.
At the end of September Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin convinced the trade unions that he owned to begin another strike for Maga's inability to promote national development and ensure the welfare of the working class. The strike, which existed in Dahomey's capital of Porto-Novo and its largest city of Cotonou, became so serious that police forces used tear gas and ended when Maga sent down some faithful Northerners, carrying around bows and arrows and patrolling the streets at night. At the same time members of the UDD organised a motion of censure in the National Assembly. Maga relied on Apithy for help in opposing the motion, and it was ultimately rejected.