Voters in Benin will vote Sunday to elect a new president as outgoing leader Patrice Talon steps down after a decade in power with a mixed legacy of economic growth, but also a growing jihadi insurgency in the north and a clamp down on the opposition and critics. Romuald Wadagni, the 49-year-old finance minister and governing coalition standard-bearer, is considered Talon’s anointed successor. Wadagni is being challenged by Paul Hounkpè, the sole opposition candidate. In the parliamentary election in January, the opposition failed to cross the 20% electoral threshold required to win seats, leaving Talon’s two allied parties in control of all 109 seats in the National Assembly and in good position before Sunday’s vote. Renaud Agbodjo, leader of The Democrats, was barred from competing after failing to secure a sufficient number of parliamentary endorsements — a threshold critics say was engineered to keep rivals out.

Full report : Benin is holding an election for a new president as security worsens and critics denounce clampdown.