In the first major appointment for Somalia’s new leader Hassan Sheik Mohamud, the president of the world’s most failed state has chosen a political newcomer as prime minister. Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid is expected to be approved by parliament as the country’s prime minister. After which, he will nominate a council of ministers.
Saaid has no current political affiliations. He studied economics at the Somali National University of Gaheyr and worked at the Ministry of Finance. He left the Ministry in 1985 to open his own business and shortly thereafter, moved to Nairobi to begin another business.
Mohamud’s inauguration marked the first elected leader of the country since its transitional government. However, more problems could arise over the prime minister appointment from the country’s Islamist militia, al-Shabab. A spokesman from the group said that Saaid is like his predecessors and placed by Westerners. The spokesman told Reuters, “He will not change Somalia. We shall fight and keep on foiling the infidel government.”
Saaid has spent most of the past two decades in Kenya. While some analysts are confident about the prime minister appointment saying that his disengagement with the country means he has less chance of being corrupt, others wonder if his knowledge of the country and its needs will be a greater obstacle.
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