Mobiu Kerenou

Zakar

Yumoxite Empire

**Mobiu Sobasa Kerenou** was a Biabonese politician and military officer who served as the second president of the Biabonese Socialist Republic and first president and founder of the People's Republic of Biabon. A leading member of the Sajuru Movement since the death of its founder, Dr. Shehana, Mobiu Kerenou was a notable figure within the Socialist Coalition prior to the Sajuru Movement's removal from it and played a major role in the 1942 Republican Revolution.

Mobiu Kerenou was born in Zakar under Yumoxite occupation. Under his leadership, Biabon pushed back a Saksenlandish invasion and was established as a nationalist state with a centrally planned economy. He established close relations with the Roman Imperium. Human rights groups around the world have designated his reign as the 'most repressive' in history. Following his death in 2004, the Central Congress elected Fana Pashava as his successor.

## Early life

Mobiu's exact origins are unknown, probably having been an orphan from birth. According to sources close to him, he never met either of his parents. Up until age five, he remained in the custody of an upper-class foster family. He was relocated in 1920 to the Southern Zakar Childrens' Academy following the collapse of the Yumoxites. He was fed mostly by church programs, which also taught him how to read.

In 1923, the Republic was dissolved following Huya's coup d'etat. Several shootouts occurred during this period of military rule. Mobiu later said various, often contradictory things about Huya's military dictatorship. On one hand, he said that it *provided direction to the Republic*. On the other hand, he recalled Huya's military dictatorship as a government that was *unsure how to justify itself* and *illogical*. After Huya died in 1928, King Amaryik I was given full power by the Military Administration, which officially dissolved itself in 1929. Mobiu was originally a supporter of the King, with him leaving his factory job at the age of 15 to join the *Association of Loyalists to the House of Senahash*. His mind was changed in 1933 after being recruited by the Republican Guard. He became a spy for the organization until he officially left the ALHS in favor of the newly-formed National Association of People's Councils, which in 1935 succeeded against a political struggle against the nobility. The NAPC was composed of fierce nationalists and republicans, which sought the establishment of a national republic ruled by likeminded academics. Mobiu was appointed *Director of the Zakar People's Council* in 1936 by the NAPC's then-leader Abaje. He died just a year later, resulting in a power struggle between the nationalist faction and the moderate faction. Having been outnumbered, the nationalist faction lost the struggle and Mobiu was forced to resign in 1939 after surviving multiple assassination attempts. The nationalists regrouped and sought to join the Socialist Coalition, whose members had also been alienated by the now moderate NAPC.

## Rise to power

In 1942, the NAPC ousted King Amaryik I. Nationalists within the Socialist Coalition formed the *Cult of Self-Reliance*, which Mobiu was a part of. It was there that he met Dr. Shehana. He became Mobiu's mentor and political ally. The Socialist Coalition gained more support than the NAPC in a matter of months, due to the majority of its members being from the lower to middle class. The NAPC by this time was fully composed of upper-class intellectuals, who were dubbed "nobility" by the socialists. Much of the NAPC was driven out the country, with many of what remained of them being harbored by Saksenlandish Maldekach. During the period of socialist rule, Mobiu served as Biabon's spy chief. In 1946, the Socialist Coalition was ousted by Sevjai's junta. The coalition began taking up arms and the Cult of Self-Reliance was dissolved as the Biabonese Civil War began. It also decentralized further as commanders were relegated entire militias, allowing Dr. Shehana to lobby for the inclusion of his Sajuru Movement in 1950, which was the successor to the Cult of Self-Reliance.

Mobiu was Dr. Shehana's right-hand man. While he visited the Roman Imperium in 1954, Mobiu took charge of the Sajuru Movement temporarily, even winning several key battles. Dr. Shehana considered Mobiu his "best student". The Socialist Coalition officially defeated the Sevjai's forces in 1958. In 1959, militias still loyal to the NAPC that were being harbored in Maldekach launched the year-long Nushama Insurgency. During this insurgency, Shehana was assassinated and Mobiu took his place. Socialist Biabon was successful in fighting the insurgency. Elections started in 1959, which resulted in President Yaran's victory. Yaran was the candidate backed by the entirety of the Socialist Coalition. In 1960, the Biabonese Socialist Republic was established. The Sajuru Movement had began to pick up steam by this time. Intellectuals sympathetic to the Sajuru Idea, which has its roots in self-reliance, recouped under Mobiu's wing of the coalition. Fractionalization caused an internal struggle in the Socialist Coalition between the two dominant factions: the Sajuru Movement and the Communist Party. The Communists managed to lobby for the expulsion of the Sajuru Movement from the coalition, before succumbing to the fractionalization process themselves and losing influence. The disorderly nature of the coalition prevented them from mustering any meaningful opposition to the Sajuru Movement. As a result, Mobiu won the 1964 election and was sworn in as President in 1965.

## Leader of Biabon

Mobiu began his presidency with several issues that needed to be resolved, including Saksenland's heavy blockade. He appointed Masonu. a then-reliable political ally, as his Prime Minister. The economy steadily grew until Saksenland's invasion, which resulted in the 1968 Biabon War. He declared a state of emergency and dissolved the parliament in 1970. This turned Masonu against him, who attempted to rally an opposition force against Mobiu within the Sajuru Movement. Masonu was captured and imprisoned. In 1971, Biabon won the war. Mobiu Kerenou dissolved the Biabonese Socialist Republic and established the People's Republic of Biabon as its successor, executing Masonu shortly after. Some historians now believe he did this to taunt Masonu. Mobiu would go on to say Masonu *died like a dog*. His justification for the purges was that he aimed to create a *natural democratic system* in line with Shehana's thought.

From 1972 to 1975, industry was nationalized and the economy was almost completely centralized. In 1975, marshal law was lifted and the 1975 Constitution was ratified. It cemented the Sajuru Movement's grip on power as the highest authority of a one-party state. He aligned Biabon with the Roman Imperium, which he asserted was the only other country with conscious spirit. He pushed for a 'dietary revolution' which to this day encourages people to consume locally grown fruits and pasture-raised meats. He purged pharmaceutical companies in 1982 and nationalized the entire industry, causing it to be completely downsized. In 1991, Biabon ceased taking out loans. The use of foreign currencies outside of foreign exchange facilities near the border was completely made illegal, resulting in massive instability and inflation. This reached its peak in 1997, which saw protests around the country and calls for Kerenou to retire, even from within the Sajuru Movement. The instability was coupled with a famine. He eventually stepped down in 1999 and Fana Pashava was appointed as his successor. While the situation remained bad, opposition died down as the situation gradually improved.

## Final years & Legacy

### Final years

At the end of his life, Mobiu retired to a country house on the outskirts of Zakar. It was there he wrote his final work: *Mobiu Kerenou's Memoirs*. He died in 2004 of kidney failure. His son, Ibon Kerenou, organized his funeral in Zakar. Pashava declared a three-day mourning period.

### Legacy

Kerenou is an admired figure in Biabon. There are over 500 statues in the country, with the most prominent one being in Zakar. His posthumous image is prominent in places associated with academia and public transportation. His body lay at the Hall of Heroes of the Republic alongside revolutionaries from the 1942 Republican Revolution.