Benin: the UPR and the BR face the initial frustrations arising from the Wadagni government

Members and leaders of the Union Progressiste le Renouveau (UPR) and the Republican Bloc (BR), the two parties of the presidential majority, have expressed their dissatisfaction regarding the composition of Romuald Wadagni’s first government, appointed on May 24, 2026. These internal voices denounce what they deem a low representation of the activist political class in an executive led by technocrats who are little known to the general public.

In light of these disturbances, the president of the UPR, Joseph Djogbénou, held a meeting with activists from the Littoral region. He explicitly acknowledged that forming the government had been “difficult to compose” and conceded that many party members had “the legitimacy, merit, and competence to be included.” He argued for national interest to take precedence over partisan calculations. For Joseph Djogbénou, “we, at the Union Progressiste Le Renouveau, place the general interest above all else, the Benin.” He also emphasized that the ministers need to understand “the spirit of the societal project” to support the head of state in achieving tangible results.

At the Republican Bloc, no individual has publicly commented on this matter. However, a party official who requested anonymity expressed reservations to Africaho: “There are many among us who have proven themselves in various fields. We hoped to be more involved in governance, but we trust that things will improve.”

A Technocratic Logic Claimed from the Inauguration

The Wadagni government consists of 25 members, including seven former ministers from Patrice Talon’s administration retained. The UPR is represented by Gildas Agonkan at Defense, Véronique Tognifodé Mewanou at Family, and Sèdami Medégan Fagla at Higher Education. The BR includes Janvier Yahouédéou at Decentralization, Shadiya Alimatou Assouma at the government secretariat, Aurélie Adam Soulé Zoumarou at Communication, and Djibril Mama Cissé Moussa at Interior – thus seven positions out of 25 for the two parties representing the entirety of the government coalition.

The parties had each submitted lists of about twenty potential candidates to the presidency before the inauguration, according to Prime News World. The final executive does not include any representatives from the opposition who supported Wadagni during the campaign, as the president chose not to open his government beyond the presidential majority.

The tension between the expectations of party apparatuses and the actual composition of the government is not surprising. Wadagni had indicated during his campaign a preference for technical profiles and structured his cabinet around this principle. Several holders of key portfolios – including Minister of Economy Aristide Médénou, Minister of Digital Transformation Mahuna Akplogan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Corinne Amori Brunet, or Minister of Agriculture Adin Yéton Bloukounon Goubalan – come directly from international organizations or the private sector, with no documented history of partisan engagement.

Djogbénou’s meeting with the Littoral activists and the calculated silence of the BR indicate that managing this internal dissatisfaction represents one of the first challenges for the cohesion of the ruling coalition. No official reaction from the presidency had been made public at the time of publication.