Benin: toward a National Order of Bokonon to regulate the Fâ profession

Benin could set up a professional body specifically dedicated to Bokonon, the priests responsible for Fâ divination and interpretation. According to La Nouvelle Tribune, the project aims in particular to better regulate the practice of this role and to distinguish trained practitioners from people who claim the title without the necessary knowledge.

The issue is not new. As early as 2023, David Koffi Aza, then involved in a national census of Bokonon, was already calling for a registry that would make it possible to know “who is who, who is where, who does what.” The exercise was meant to clean up the field and better organise the defence of the profession’s interests.

At the time, he was already explicitly advocating for the creation of a professional order comparable, in principle, to the bodies that exist for doctors, pharmacists or lawyers. The idea was that registration with a recognised organisation would both regulate the profession and protect practitioners when they face legal trouble or accusations linked to the activities of some of their clients.

Identifying genuinely trained practitioners

One of the key issues concerns the very definition of a Bokonon. Contrary to the idea that this role simply results from an initiation, officials of the Vodun Rites Committee point to a long and structured course of training.

The committee’s chairman, Mahougnon Kakpo, explained in June 2026 that training a Bokonon could take at least nine years, combining theoretical and practical learning. Under this view, mastering Fâ requires the gradual acquisition of the signs, consultation methods and their interpretation.

This training requirement is one of the arguments put forward in favour of a mechanism to identify recognised practitioners. For several years, industry officials have denounced the emergence of people who self-proclaim as Bokonon and offer consultations or services without having followed the traditional required training.

The issue also has a legal and social dimension. Several cases examined by the courts in recent years have involved people presenting themselves as Fâ priests or traditional practitioners in fraud or cybercrime cases. This does not mean the Bokonon profession itself is associated with these offences, but such cases have reinforced internal calls to better identify genuine practitioners.

In June 2025, a separate case had also led traditional authorities in Zè-Centre to bar a Bokonon from practising, following conduct deemed to violate the community’s ethical rules. The case was handled at the time by customary authorities, in the absence of any national professional-order mechanism specific to the profession.

The creation of an Order could therefore lead to the establishment of admission criteria, a national registry, a code of ethics and possibly disciplinary procedures. However, the exact details of this framework — including registration conditions, the composition of its governing bodies and its powers of sanction — have not yet been spelled out in the information publicly available.

The project comes amid growing institutional recognition of Vodun in Benin. Since the creation of Vodun Days and the establishment of the Vodun Rites Committee, authorities have launched several initiatives aimed at structuring the practices, ceremonies and representation of this religion’s various components. The Vodun Rites Committee is notably tasked with helping preserve and promote this religious and cultural heritage.