HOL
Saturday, June 04, 2011
A former cabinet minister of Somalia Mohamed Mohamud Guled - Photo by Ahmed Abdisamad 2/june/ 2011 (HOL)
A former cabinet minister of Somalia on Friday announced his bid to clinch the presidential seat of the beleaguered Horn of Africa Nation at a time when both the Somali government and international community have not agreed on a specific date for elections.
Declaring his candidacy during a colorful campaign ceremony held in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, Mohamed Mohamud Guled, the former internal affairs Minister said he will thrust himself into the ring for the top seat of the country that has never known law and order for over a period of two decades.
The ceremony was graced by high profile seasonal and longtime Somali politicians, including several members of Somalia’s bloated parliament. A cross section of civilians, local Somali elders and civil society groups also attended the campaign platform of Guled.
During the campaign fete, former president of Galmudug region Mohamed Ali declared his support for Guled asking Somali lawmakers to throw their weight behind the former minister describing the man as a politician who can help build a unity government in Somalia.
During a long speech punctuated with raptures from his adoring supporters, Guled promised to unify Somalia and help restore peace in the country by addressing the critical security issue in order to set up what he called a legitimate people’s republic.
Guled was born in restive Somalia in 1954 in the district of Hobyo where he has grown up as a child. He has attended the informal Quranic School and completed his elementary education in the Mudug region.
Guled pursued his secondary education in Syria, and then moved on to Iraq and Romania, where he eventually obtained Bachelor's, Master's and PHD degrees in the fields of Economics and Agriculture.
In 2000 he contested for Somalia’s presidential elections held in Djibouti, but eventually lost to Abdikassim Salat Hassan. During the transitional period of former immediate president Abdullahi Yussuf Guled was appointed as Minister for Public Works and Housing, however, on February 7, 2007, his portfolio was transferred to the Interior Ministry.