Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Somali; Xasan Sheekh Maxamuud; born 29 November 1955) is a Somali politician who has served as the president of Somalia since May 2022.

He is the founder and current chairman of the Union for Peace and Development Party.

He was indirectly elected as President of the Federal Republic of Somalia on 15 May 2022, defeating the incumbent president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.

He later moved to Somalia's capital Mogadishu in 1978, where he studied for three years at the local Somali National University.

In 1981, he earned an undergraduate diploma in technology from the institution.

He later joined the Somali National University-affiliated Technical Teachers' Training College in 1984.

In 1986, Hassan journeyed to India and began attending Bhopal University (now Barkatullah University) where he completed a master's degree in technical education in 1988.

Hassan is also a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University's Summer Peacebuilding Institute based in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

In 1986, he became the department's head.

When the civil war broke out in the early 1990s, Hassan remained in Somalia and acted as a consultant with various NGOs, UN bureaus, and peace and development projects.

He worked as an education officer for UNICEF in the central and southern parts of the country from 1993 to 1995.

In 1999, he also co-established the Somali Institute of Management and Administration (SIMAD) in the capital.

In 2001, he completed three of the SPI's intensive courses, studying mediation, trauma healing, and designing learner-centered trainings.

Following his second term election for the presidency of Somalia, the University for Peace revealed that Hassan is a Ph.D. candidate at the university.

In October 2022, the presidency announced that Hassan defended his doctoral dissertation in Peace, Governance and Development, the first sitting Somali president to do so.

In a professional capacity, Hassan accepted a position as an instructor and trainer at the Lafole Technical Secondary School.

The institution subsequently grew into the SIMAD University, with Hassan acting as dean until 2010.

Hassan entered Somali politics the following year, when he established the independent Peace and Development Party (PDP).

PDP members unanimously elected him as the party's chairman in April 2011, with a mandate to serve as leader for the next three years.

He previously served as the 8th president of Somalia from 2012 to 2017.

A civil and political rights activist, Hassan was previously a university professor and dean at SIMAD University, which he co-founded.

In August 2012, Hassan was selected as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the newly formed Federal Parliament of Somalia.

Besides academic and civic work, he is also a successful entrepreneur.

First Presidency

On 10 September 2012, legislators elected Hassan President of Somalia during the country's 2012 presidential elections.

Members of parliament marked their ballot papers behind a curtain before casting them in a clear box in front of foreign envoys and hundreds of Somali men and women as well as being broadcast live on television.

After the first round of voting, former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed emerged as the frontrunner, amassing 64 votes.

Hassan was a close second with 60 votes, and Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali placed third with 32 votes.

Along with the fourth-place finisher Abdiqadir Osoble, Ali later chose to drop out ahead of the second round.

Both challengers, along with the other hopefuls that were vying for the post, thereafter reportedly instructed their supporters to back Hassan's candidacy.

Hassan went on to earn a lopsided win in the final round, defeating Ahmed 71–29% (190 votes vs. 79 votes).

Immediately after the final ballot results had been read out, Hassan was sworn into office.

Lawmakers began singing Somalia's national anthem, and Mogadishu's residents also expressed satisfaction at the outcome, viewing it as a moment of change.

In April 2013, Hassan was named in the Time 100, Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

His efforts at advancing national reconciliation, anti-corruption measures, and socio-economic and security sector reforms in Somalia were cited as reasons for the selection.

He was born in Jalalaqsi, an agricultural town situated in central Hiran in present-day Somalia, during the trusteeship period, and comes from a middle-class background.

Hassan is married to Qamar Ali Omar and has seven children.

Hassan was born in Jalalaqsi in the central region of Hiiraan.

His father is from the Abgaal clan and a mother from the Hawadle clan.

He attended primary and secondary schools in his hometown Jalalaqsi.