Ali Mahdi Muhammad ( so, Cali Mahdi Maxamed, ar, علي مهدي محمد) (1 January 1939 – 10 March 2021) was a Somali entrepreneur and politician. He served as President of
Somalia from 26 January 1991 to 3 January 1997. The
Cairo Agreement in December 1997 designated Ali Mahdi as president once again, a position he held until being succeeded by
Abdiqasim Salad in the year 2000.
Muhammad rose to power after a coalition of armed opposition groups, including his own
United Somali Congress, deposed longtime dictator
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 19 ...
. However, Muhammad was not able to exert his authority beyond parts of the capital, and instead vied for power with other faction leaders in the southern half of the country and with autonomous subnational entities in the north.
Early life
Muhammad was born in 1939,
in
Jowhar, an agricultural town in the southern
Middle Shabelle region of Somalia (then a colony of
Italy known as
Italian Somaliland). His family hails from the
Hawiye clan (Harti Abgaal Agoonyar).
Career
United Somali Congress
Muhammad began his career in business, working as an independent
Mogadishu-based entrepreneur and first entered politics in 1968, competing for a parliamentary seat in Mogadishu.
After fallout from the unsuccessful Ogaden campaign of the late 1970s, the
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 19 ...
administration began arresting government and military officials under suspicion of participation in the
abortive 1978 coup d'état.
[''ARR: Arab report and record'', (Economic Features, ltd.: 1978), p.602.] Most of the people who had allegedly helped plot the putsch were summarily executed.
[New People Media Centre, ''New people'', Issues 94–105, (New People Media Centre: Comboni Missionaries, 2005).] However, several officials managed to escape abroad and started to form the first of various dissident groups dedicated to ousting Barre's regime by force.
[Nina J. Fitzgerald, ''Somalia: issues, history, and bibliography'', (Nova Publishers: 2002), p.25.]
By the late 1980s, Barre's regime had grown considerably unpopular. The authorities became increasingly totalitarian, and
resistance movements, supported by Ethiopia's communist
Derg administration, sprang up across the country. This eventually led in 1991 to the outbreak of the
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...
, the toppling of Barre's government, and the disbandment of the
Somali National Army (SNA). Many of the opposition groups subsequently began competing for influence in the power vacuum that followed the ouster of Barre's regime. Armed factions led by
United Somali Congress (USC) commanders Mahdi Muhammad and General
Mohamed Farah Aidid
Mohamed Farrah Hassan Aidid ( so, Maxamed Faarax Xasan Caydiid; ar, محمد فرح حسن عيديد; 15 December 1934 – 1 August 1996) was a Somali general and diplomat.
Educated in both Rome and Moscow, he served as a chief in the Italian ...
, in particular, clashed as each sought to exert authority over the capital.
[Library Information and Research Service, ''The Middle East: Abstracts and index'', Volume 2, (Library Information and Research Service: 1999), p.327.]
President of Somalia
In 1991, a multi-phased international conference on Somalia was held in neighbouring
Djibouti
Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red S ...
. Aidid boycotted the first meeting in protest. Due to the legitimacy conferred on Muhammad by the Djibouti conference, he was subsequently recognized by the international community as the new President of Somalia. Djibouti,
Egypt,
Saudi Arabia, and
Italy were among the countries that officially extended recognition to Muhammad's administration.
However, he was not able to exert his authority beyond parts of the capital, and instead vied for power with other faction leaders in the southern half of the country and with autonomous subnational entities in the north.
The competition for influence and resources between Muhammad and Aidid continued on through the 1992–95 United Nations missions to Somalia (
UNOSOM I,
UNOSOM II, and
UNITAF), until Aidid's eventual death in 1996.
In 2000, Muhammad participated in another conference in Djibouti, where he lost a re-election bid to Barre's former Interior Minister
Abdiqasim Salad Hassan
Abdiqasim Salad Hassan ( so, Cabdiqaasim Salaad Xasan; ar, عبد القاسم سلطة حسن; born on January 1, 1941) or Abdiqasim Salad is a Somali politician. He helped found the Transitional National Government which he served as Preside ...
. Muhammad gave a concession speech, indicating that he respected the outcome of the election and would support and work with the new President-elect.
Death
Ali Mahdi Muhammad died on 10 March 2021, in
Nairobi, Kenya
Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...
, after contracting
COVID-19 during the
COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya
The COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Kenya on 12 March 2020, with the initia ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad, Ali Mahdi
1939 births
2021 deaths
Presidents of Somalia
United Somali Congress politicians
People from Middle Shabelle
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya