South West wraps up Senate polls, picks three more senators

GOOBJOOG NEWS|BAIDOA: South West state has concluded the election of the remaining three senators making it the second Federal Member State to wrap up the senate election.

Federal Minister for Defence Hassan Haji Hussein beat was the first to be elected. He got 74 while his opponent Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi received 14 seats. Before entering politics, Hassan Hussein Haji served as a lawyer for 20 years, and also served as a former constitutional adviser in the president’s office.

His work includes being a member of the Independent Constitutional Review Commission, and on the government side he was the former Minister of Justice in the Welfare Government, and now the Minister of Defense.

Ali Sheikh Mohamud Ga’al was the second to be elected garnering 68 votes while his rival Abdikadir Abdi Ahmed received 22 votes.

Ali Sheikh Mohamud Ga’al was born in Kuntuwaarey, between Marka and Barawe districts. He studied at an Egyptian school in Marka and later graduated from Lafoole University.

During Siyad Barre’s tenure, he was the chairman of Banadir youth for 8 years and later the education secretary of the Somali youth organization for 2 years. Ga’al also worked as a reporter for Radio Mogadishu and a writer for Xiddigta Oktobar. He also lectured at the College of Veterinary Medicine in the Somali National University.

After the collapse of the central government in 1991, he taught Islamic law in the country’s universities, before becoming a judge in the Benadir regional court for 11 years.

Ga’al later became a member of the constitutional review process.

The third senator to be elected today is Abdiweli Mohamed Ibrahim. He got 68 votes while his competitor Abdullahi Robow Mohamed trailed with 18 votes.