Kemi Seba, an emblematic figure of Pan-Africanism, has officially announced his candidacy for the Beninese presidential election. Committed for years to the fight against neocolonialism, Seba made the leap into politics, ready to shake up the established order and defend a sovereigntist vision for Benin and Africa. At 42, the former leader of a small French anti-Semitic group, which advocated the separation between whites and blacks, a self-proclaimed « pan-Africanist », has turned into a fierce Beninese opponent. In his video, he addresses a long indictment against the head of state, accusing him of bad governance and Persecution of his political opponents. « Benin is experiencing an unprecedented social crisis which favors the richest while almost all the people live in conditions that are beyond comprehension, » he declared, unfurling a populist discourse in which he evoked pell-mell the fate of precarious teachers or farmers subjected to economic difficulties.
By officially entering the presidential race, Kemi Seba, whose real name is Stellio Gilles Robert Capo Chichi, marks a new stage in his controversial career. Born in 1982 in Strasbourg, he became known in the early 2000s through his Tribu Ka movement, dissolved in 2006 by the French justice system for violence, threats, anti-Semitism and incitement to racial hatred. Since then, he has been leading a constant charge against Western countries, first and foremost France. Adept at stunts, he caused controversy by burning, in 2017, a 5,000 CFA franc note, a symbol of neocolonialism, according to him. His speech has a large online audience on the continent and in the African Diasporas. He has more than 1.3 million subscribers on Facebook, 340,000 on TikTok and 290,000 on X.
His positions have led to him being arrested, expelled or turned back from several countries in recent years, including Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Guinea. His relationship with France became strained, until he was stripped of his French nationality in July 2024. « He is carrying out in a very vehement manner an activity deliberately hostile to France, its action and its interests in the world, especially in the countries of French-speaking Africa, » a source close to the case justified at the time. « No more French nationality? Glory to God. Freed I am from this burden, » Kemi Seba reacted. In October, on suspicion of foreign interference, he was taken into custody, before being released without being prosecuted.
