Hirsi Bulhan Farah

Hirsi Bulhan Farah is a Somali politician,^[1] a former political prisoner, interim chairman of the Somali parliament, an activist, an entrepreneur and a greatly respected and knowledgeable elder.

Early life and political career

Born in the town of Eyl, which is located in northeastern Somalia (Puntland). He was Minister of Livestock in the civilian government of the 1960s. Hirsi Bulhan Farah became Director of the Department of Plant Protection and Locust Control, in the Ministry of Agriculture in Mogadishu. He was also the chief executive officer of the largest banana exporting company in Somalia during the 1970s. During the Mohamed Siad Barre regime, Bulhan was imprisoned for nine years due to his overt resistance against the regime. Bulhan was a very close companion with the second Prime Minister, as well as the second President of Somalia, Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke.

A couple of days before Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke's assassination in the city of Las Anod, he [Sharmarke] had requested multiple times to Bulhan [while they both were in Mogadishu] to accompany him on the trip to the northwestern town. Unfortunately, due to different circumstances, Bulhan could not make the trip to Las Anod where his dear friend was assassinated by his own bodyguard. Directly after the assassination of Sharmarke, [Somalia's second president] on October 15, 1969, Bulhan and the other Ministers of the civilian government were rounded up and imprisoned. Sharmarke's assassination was quickly followed by a military coup d'état on October 21, 1969 (the day after his funeral). In which the Somali Army seized power without encountering armed opposition — essentially a bloodless takeover. The putsch was spearheaded by Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, who at the time commanded the army.

Somali Salvation Democratic Front [SSDF]

These events led Hirsi Bulhan Farah to join SSDF [founded in 1978], the first resistance group against the authoritarian regime of Mohamed Siad Barre. Bulhan joined [and financially supported] the organization after his release from imprisonment. The Somali Salvation Democratic Front was founded by several army officers. It was a political and paramilitary umbrella organization, with its power base mainly in the Majeerteen clan. Bulhan immediately got a high ranking position due to his previous experience as a politician and his reputation, additionally to being a man of great respect. Some of the group's prominent founders were Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Somalia's former military attaché to Moscow, and Abdullahi Ahmed Irro, a prominent General and founder of the National Academy for Strategy. Abdullahi Yusuf eventually became President of Somalia in 2004 and was the first elected president of Puntland an autonomous state of Somalia in July 1998. Abdullahi Irro later served as a Professor of Strategy at various Somali Military Institutes in the 1980s. As mentioned earlier, Irro helped put together the National Academy for Strategy, and had a hand in formulating strategic training syllabi for senior military personnel, the presidential advisory councils, and legislators. He also played a leading role in forging working partnerships with several schools in Egypt [1983], France [1984] and the United States [1984]. Both of these men were great friends with Hirsi Bulhan Farah.

Post-Civil War

After The Somali Transitional Federal Parliament was inaugurated in Nairobi, in 2004 the former Minister was elected as interim chairman.^[2] Hirsi Bulhan Farah has 10 children with his beloved wife, Asli Osman Haji Djibril and currently lives in Stockholm, Sweden. He has 11 children in total. He every so often participates in efforts to further stabilize and create a peaceful society in Somalia. Bulhan occasionally interviews with various Somali media outlets.

References