Dahir Riyale Kahin ( so, Daahir Riyaale Kaahin, ar, ظاهر ريالي كاهن) (born 12 March 1952) is a Somaliland politician who was President of Somaliland from 2002 to 2010. He previously served as a senior officer in the National Security Service in

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 Constitut ...

, and he was

Vice President of Somaliland The vice president of Somaliland ( so, Madaxweyne ku xigeenka Somaliland) is the deputy head of state of Somaliland and the second highest official next to the president. The vice president is the constitutional successor of the president of Som ...

from 1997 to 2002.

Personal life

Kahin was born in the town of Quljeed, situated in the northwestern Awdal region of

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...

. He hails from the Jibreel Younis sub-clan of the

Gadabuursi The Gadabuursi (Somali: ''Gadabuursi'', Arabic: جادابورسي), also known as ''Samaroon'' (Arabic: ''قبيلة سَمَرُون)'', is a northern Somali clan, a sub-division of the Dir clan family. The Gadabuursi are geographically sp ...

clan. He was educated in Amoud, and was later trained in

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...

Career

Early career

Kahin's previous posts included a

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or interna ...

ic position at the Somali Embassy in Djibouti. In the last years of 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 ...

government, during the 1980s, Kahin was the highest-ranking National Security Service (NSS) officer in

Berbera Berbera (; so, Barbara, ar, بربرة) is the capital of the Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of the British Somaliland protectorate before Hargeisa. I ...

.Human Rights Watch (Organization), Chris Albin-Lackey, ''Hostages to peace: threats to human rights and democracy in Somaliland'', (Human Rights Watch: 2009), p.13. He was stationed in Las Anod in 1981 to 1982. From 1997 to 2002, Kahin served as the

President of Somaliland

On 3 May 2002, Kahin became the third President of Somaliland, after the death of the self-declared republic's President

Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal ( so, Maxamed Xaaji Ibraahim Cigaal, ar, محمد الحاج ابراهيم عقال; August 15, 1928 – May 3, 2002) was a Somali politician who served as the President of Somaliland from 1993 to his death in 2002. ...

. Kahin later won the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

on 14 April 2003, representing the Ururka Dimuqraadiga Umada Bahawday (UDUB), or United Democratic People's Party. He was sworn into office on 16 May, the day after Egal's funeral. In 2008, Kahin established by decree new regions and districts, which drew criticism. Regions and districts in Somaliland are not just an instrument for the organisation of local government, they are also used as electoral districts. Kahin's move was considered by several to have motives rooted in electoral and clan-politics. Moreover, as these new regions and districts were never geographically delimitated, they argued that he saddled the region with a legacy that hampers the efficient organisation of local government to this day.See
Somaliland Local Government Re‐organisation through Presidential Decrees in an Election Year
by Ibrahim Hashi Jama, Somalilandlaw.com, 7 April 2008. Accessed on 5 February 2015. Throughout his tenure as President of Somaliland, Kahim sought to maintain peace and tranquility in the region. His administration contributed to various state-building and institutional development initiatives. In terms of democratization, his government also successfully organized local council elections, parliamentary elections, and two presidential elections. Additionally, Kahin is noted for having peacefully transferred power to his successor in office, President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud.

References

External links

(Brief history of Somaliland)

waayaha.net
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kahin, Dahir Rayale 1952 births 21st-century presidents of Somaliland 21st-century Somaliland politicians Gadabuursi Living people People from Awdal Presidents of Somaliland Somaliland politicians United Peoples' Democratic Party politicians Vice presidents of Somaliland