Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud

Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud احمد محمد محمود
President of Somaliland
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 July 2010
Vice President	Abdirahman Saylici
Preceded by	Dahir Riyale Kahin
Personal details
Born	1936 (age 79–80) Burao, British Somaliland
Political party	Peace, Unity, and Development Party
Spouse(s)	Amina Weris Sheikh-Mohamed Jirde
Alma mater	University of Manchester
Religion	Islam

Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" (Somali: Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud Siilaanyo, Arabic: احمد محمد محمود سيلانيو‎) (born 1936) is a Somali politician who has been President of Somaliland since 2010. He is a longtime member of government, having served as Minister of Commerce of Somalia, among other Cabinet positions. During the 1980s, he also acted as Chairman of the Somali National Movement.^[1]

Standing as an opposition candidate, he was elected as President of Somaliland—a self-declared republic that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia—in Somaliland's 2010 presidential election.^[2]

Background

Personal life

Mohamoud was born in 1936 in the northwestern town of Burco, situated in the former British Somaliland protectorate.^[1] Nicknamed "Silanyo", he hails from the Habar Jeclo sub-clan of the Isaaq.^[3] He is Muslim.^[4]

Education

Between 1946 and 1957, Mohamoud studied at schools in Sheekh and Amud, where he completed his secondary levels.^[1]

Upon graduation, he moved to England to pursue higher studies. From 1958 to 1960, Mohamoud enrolled in the London University and obtained an advanced General Certificate of Education (GCE). He then studied at the University of Manchester, where he earned both a Bachelor's Degree (1960-63) and a Master's Degree (1960–63) in Economics.^[1]

Political career

General

In a professional capacity, between 1965 and 1969, Mohamoud served as an official at the Ministry of Planning and Coordination in Mogadishu during Somalia's early civilian administration. He was also the national Minister of Planning and Coordination (1969–1973), Minister of Commerce (1973–1978 and 1980–1982), and the Chairman of the National Economic Board (1978–1980) in the succeeding socialist government.^[1][5]

From 1982 to 1990, Mohamoud was the Chairman of the Somali National Movement (SNM), serving as the rebel group's longest-serving chairman.^[4] In March 1991, he proposed a power-sharing framework between the SNM and the Mogadishu-based United Somali Congress (USC) under a new transitional national government.^[6]

Between 1993 to 1997, Mohamoud was a member of the House of Representatives of Somaliland. He also worked as the Somaliland region's Minister of Finance from 1997 to 1999, in which position he initiated a program of fiscal reform. Between 1999 and 2000, Mohamoud served as Somaliland's Minister of Planning and Coordination, a position from which he resigned in 2001.^[1][7]

President of Somaliland

Mohamoud meeting with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister Henry Bellingham in London (2011).

Election

In 2010, Mohamoud ran for office in the Somaliland presidential election. As the head of the Kulmiye (Solidarity) party, he won 49.59% of all votes cast, making him the fourth President of Somaliland. The ruling UDUB party of incumbent President Dahir Riyale Kahin managed a total of 33.23% of the votes. Faysal Ali Warabe's For Justice and Development party finished third with 17.18% of votes.^[8]

Somaliland-Somalia Talks

On 28 June 2012, Mohamoud signed a cooperation deal in Dubai with Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, President of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government. Referred to as the Dubai Charter, the agreement calls for greater coordination between Somalia's various political units and is part of broader international reconciliation efforts among all Somali parties. The Presidents of the autonomous Puntland and Galmudug regions as well as the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs also attended the signing.^[9]

On 13 April 2013, political talks between the Somalia's Government in Mogadishu, now led by the Federal Government, and the Government of the Republic of Somaliland in Hargeisa resumed. Organized by the government of Turkey in Ankara, the meeting ended with a signed agreement between the new Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Mohamoud agreeing to allocate fairly to the Somaliland region its portion of the development aid earmarked for Somalia as a whole and to cooperate on security.^[10]

Renewable energy technologies

In June 2014, the Somaliland regional government and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) inaugurated a new wind energy project at an event at the Hargeisa International Airport. Somaliland President Mohamoud officiated the hand over ceremony, which was also attended by the region's Ministers of Civil Aviation, Planning, Environment, Interior, Water and Information, as well as USAID's Acting Somalia Office Director Hodan Hassan and civil society and private sector representatives. The new wind power facility is under the authority of the Somaliland Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, which will manage it through a public-private partnership and oversee its daily operations. The initiative is part of the larger Partnership for Economic Growth, a bilateral program that has invested over $14 million in the Somaliland region's energy, livestock and agriculture sectors as well as in private sector development. In particular, the partnership aims to establish local renewable energy technologies. It has in the process seen Somaliland officials work closely with USAID representatives to draft laws and regulations to promote a competitive business environment, and thereby optimize the value of energy services for clients. To this end, the new wind energy facility is expected to offer a more cost effective alternative to diesel fuel. It is also slated to provide power to both the Hargeisa airport and the surrounding communities.^[11]

Dahabshil International Commercial Bank

In November 2014, Mohamoud officially inaugurated the Somaliland region's first commercial bank at a launch ceremony in Hargeisa. Part of a broader effort by his administration to attract foreign direct investment, the regional leader hailed the opening of the new Dahabshil International Commercial Bank as a mark of progress. According to Abdirashid Mohamed Saed, the manager of the bank's Dahabshiil parent company, the institution had already issued $70 million in loans earmarked for the local financial, livestock, agriculture, health and education sectors since it was officially recognized earlier in the year. He also indicated that the bank is slated to open additional branches in other parts of Somaliland.^[12]

Berbera Airport

In March 2015, Mohamoud officially inaugurated a new airport terminal and perimeter fence at the Berbera Airport. The launch ceremony was attended by officials from Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen. The new facilities were built by the Tekleberhan Ambaye Construction Plc (TACON), which had been contracted for the project in 2012 by the Somaliland region's Ministry of Civil Aviation. TACON previously constructed various buildings in Ethiopia, including the Oromia region president's office, the Yayu fertilizer factory, Jimma University, Mekelle University and Gambella Region Technical and Vocational Training College. A joint venture with the Afro-Sino Contracting & Investment Company, the Berbera Airport project's design was conceived by the International Consultants Technocrats and Marco Construction firms. It cost 83 million birr in total, 3 million birr of which was earmarked for TACON. The terminal was built on a 3,200 sq. m plot of land and has various facilities, including public address and communication equipment, baggage transfer and checkpoints, security checks, a water tanker, 200kg capacity scales, and an asphalt road leading toward the runway. Additionally, the airport fence is 12 kilometers in length.^[13]

Notes

1. "Somaliland Election Results Released: Siilaanyo Is New President". Bridge Business Magazine. 3 August 2010.
2. "Opposition leader elected Somaliland president". Google News. AFP. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
3. Lewis, I.M. (1994). Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society. Red Sea Press. pp. 211–212. ISBN 0932415938.
4. Legum, Colin (1989). Africa Contemporary Record: Annual Survey and Documents, Volume 20. Africa Research Limited. p. B-394.
5. International Academy at Santa Barbara (1981). "Somalia". Current World Leaders 24 (1-6): 152. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
6. Silanyo, Ahmed M. "A Proposal to the Somali National Movement: On a Framework for a Transitional Government in Somalia" (PDF). Wardheernews. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
7. Nololeed, Taariikh (January 2003). "Ahmed Silanyo: CV". Kumilye Party. Archived from the original on 2007-07-26. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
8. "Somaliland Detailed Election Results". African Elections Database. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
9. "Mogadishu, Somaliland sign cooperation deal: report". AFP. 28 June 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
10. "Somalia: President Hassan and President Silanyo meet in Turkey". Garowe Online. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
11. "SOMALIA: U.S donates Wind Energy Project to power Hargeisa International Airport". Raxanreeb. 7 June 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
12. "First commercial bank officially opens in Somaliland". Reuters. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
13. "Ethiopia’s TACON Completes Somaliland’s New Airport Terminal and Fence With 80 Million Br". Addis Fortune. 4 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.