Ismail Omar Guelleh

Who is Ismail Omar Guelleh?

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is a Djiboutian politician who has served as President of Djibouti since 1999. Born on 27 November 1947 in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, into the Mamassan sub-clan of the Issa Dir, he attended a traditional Islamic school in his youth before entering the French colonial civil service in 1968, rising to become a police inspector. In 1975 he left the civil service to join the independence movement, working for the African People's League for Independence (LPAI) led by his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, and running his own pro-independence newspaper while traveling abroad to advocate for Djiboutian self-rule. After independence in 1977, he became a powerful adviser and chief of staff to President Gouled Aptidon, gradually taking on greater responsibility for state affairs through the 1990s. He was elected president in April 1999 with over 74 percent of the vote as Gouled Aptidon's chosen successor and took office on 8 May 1999. He has since been re-elected in multiple subsequent elections, most of which were boycotted by opposition parties amid complaints of irregularities, making him one of the longest-serving heads of state in the Horn of Africa.

Sources: Ismaïl Omar Guelleh — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isma%C3%AFl_Omar_Guelleh) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Ismail Omar Guelleh" · List of presidents of Djibouti — Wikipedia