Abdirahman Jama Barre ( so, Cabdiraxmaan Jaamac Barre, ar, عبد الرحمن جامع بري) (1937 – 15 August 2017) was a
Somali politician. He twice served as the
Minister of Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
of the
Somali Democratic Republic
The Somali Democratic Republic ( so, Jamhuuriyadda Dimuqraadiya Soomaaliyeed; ar, الجمهورية الديمقراطية الصومالية, ; it, Repubblica Democratica Somala) was the name that the socialist military government gave to Som ...
, and later as the
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
.
He was also the 1st Deputy Prime Minister of
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
.
Early and Personal life
Abdirahman Jama Barre was born in 1937 in the southern town of
Luuq
Luuq ( so, Luuq, ar, لوق) is a town in the southwestern Gedo province of Somalia. It is one of the older settlements in the area. It is the seat of the Luuq District. The town is located in a bend of the Juba River, where the watercourse flows ...
,
Italian Somaliland
Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centu ...
.
He hails from the
Marehan Darod
The Darod ( so, Daarood, ar, دارود) is a Somali clan. The forefather of this clan was Sheikh Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, more commonly known as ''Darood''. The clan primarily settles the apex of the Horn of Africa and its peripheries ...
clan.
He is a cousin of former
President of Somalia,
Mohamed Siad Barre
Mohamed Siad Barre ( so, Maxamed Siyaad Barre, Osmanya script: ; ar, محمد سياد بري; c. 1910 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali head of state and general who served as the 3rd president of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 199 ...
.
Abdirahman's brother Abdullahi Jama Barre "Asasey" was also active in Somali politics.
Abdirahman Jama Barre pursued higher studies abroad. For his tertiary education, he earned a PhD in the early 1960s from the teaching faculty at the
University of Padua
The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...
in
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
Abdirahman Jama Barre was married, and had seven children. He also had eight children from his first marriage. He enjoyed
lawn tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cove ...
.
Career
Jama Barre began his professional career upon graduation from university. Initially, he briefly served as a headmaster.
In 1960, Jama Barre joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Somali Republic
The Somali Republic ( so, Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliyeed; it, Repubblica Somala; ar, الجمهورية الصومالية, Jumhūriyyat aṣ-Ṣūmālīyyah) was a sovereign state composed of Somalia and Somaliland, following the unification o ...
's early civilian administration. He received his first diplomatic post the same year, working as a counsellor until 1964. Jama Barre was concurrently promoted to Director of the ministry's Economic and Social Department as well as Director-General of its Social Department. He served as such for the next four years. Between 1969 and 1970, he was also the Acting Director-General of both departments.
Following the bloodless
1969 coup d'état, Jama Barre was named Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the new ruling
Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) in 1970. He subsequently became a member of the
Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
The Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), , it, Partito Socialista Rivoluzionario Somalo was the ruling party of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1976 to 1991.
History
SRSP was created by the military regime of Siad Barre under S ...
(SSRP) in 1976, sitting on the political association's Central Committee.
In July 1977, Jama Barre was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. He represented the
Somali Democratic Republic
The Somali Democratic Republic ( so, Jamhuuriyadda Dimuqraadiya Soomaaliyeed; ar, الجمهورية الديمقراطية الصومالية, ; it, Repubblica Democratica Somala) was the name that the socialist military government gave to Som ...
in this capacity at the United Nations General Assembly.
Along with then Foreign Minister of Ethiopia
Foreign Minister of Ethiopia Goshu Wolde
Colonel Goshu Wolde (born 1942) is a former Ethiopian Foreign Minister and worked as minister of education, of Ethiopia from 1983 to 1986. Wolde, formerly a foreign minister under Mengistu, resigned the Mengistu government in 1986, by sending hi ...
, Jama Barre was also part of a seven-person Somalia-Ethiopia committee. The intergovernmental panel was formed in 1986.
Toward the end of 1987, Jama Barre was appointed the 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia.
Abdiqassim Salad Hassan served alongside him as the 2nd Deputy Prime Minister.
Jama was concurrently named Minister of Finance and Treasury.
In 1989, he was reappointed Foreign Minister, with his second term in the office lasting a year.
He would hold both 1st Deputy Prime and Finance Minister positions until the collapse of the central government in January 1991.
Additionally, Jama Barre was part of the governmental Suhl (reconciliation) group, of which Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, who would go on to become President of Somalia, was a key founder.
In 2004, following the establishment of the
Transitional Federal Government
The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) ( so, Dowladda Federaalka Kumeelgaarka, ar, الحكومة الاتحادية الانتقالية) was internationally recognized as a provisional government of the Republic of Somalia from 14 October ...
, Jama Barre presented himself as a candidate for President of Somalia. He lost out to then President of the autonomous
Puntland
Puntland ( so, Puntland, ar, أرض البنط, it, Terra di Punt or ''Paese di Punt''), officially the Puntland State of Somalia ( so, Dowlad Goboleedka Puntland ee Soomaaliya, ar, ولاية أرض البنط الصومالية), is a F ...
region,
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
See also
*
Somali Youth League
Notes
References
Foreign ministers S-Z - Somalia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barre, Abdulrahman Jama
1937 births
2017 deaths
Ethnic Somali people
Finance ministers of Somalia
Government ministers of Somalia
University of Padua alumni