The Mayor of Mogadishu is head of the executive branch of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces laws within the city. Mayor Sheik Yousuf Hussein Jim'ale was appointed on 14 September 2022 and succeeded the Mayor Omar Mohamoud Mohamed Filish.

Mogadishu City Hall, where the mayor's office is located.
Mayor of The City of Mogadishu
Seal of Mogadishu
Flag of Mogadishu
Incumbent
Yousuf Hussein Jimaale (Madaale)
since 14 September 2022
StyleMr. Mayor
AppointerHassan Sheikh Mohamud
Formation1936
DeputyIsse Gure
Websitehttps://bra.gov.so/

The mayor's office is located in Mogadishu City Hall, which was recently renovated after years of abandonment and decay during the Somali Civil War. The mayor is not elected, but is appointed by the President of Somalia. The mayor also holds the title of Governor of Benaadir, an administrative region whose territory is coextensive with the city of Mogadishu.

History of the office

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The first mayor of Mogadishu was Romeo Campani, an Italian expatriate who was appointed by General Rodolfo Graziani, the Governor of Italian Somaliland. Beginning in 1956 with the appointment of Mohamed Sheekh Jamaal also known as Jamaal Jabiye, the office of mayor has been held by native Somalis. After Somalian independence from Italy in 1960, the mayor has been appointed by the President of Somalia.

List of mayors

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Colonial mayors and first Somali mayor in colonial era

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The following mayors of Mogadishu were appointed by the Governor of Italian Somaliland. From 1941 to 1949, resulting from World War II, the British occupied the territory and appointed the mayors, who remained Italians. Beginning in 1953, native Somalis were appointed to the office.

# Image Mayor Term Governor
1 Romeo Campani 1936 – 1937 Rodolfo Graziani

Angelo de Ruben

Ruggiero Santini

2 Rag Scarpa 1937 – 1937 Francesco Saviero Caroselli
3 Dr. Sicar 1937 – 1937
4 Luigi Barbino 1937 – 1937
5 Marcelio Baudino 1937 – 1938
6 Sanatore Guliano 1938 – 1941 Gustavo Pesenti

Carlo De Simone

7 Pietro Bartelli 1941 – 1950 Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith

William Eric Halstead Scuphan Denis Henry Widcham Eric Armar Vully de Candole Geoffrey Massey Gamble

8 Oliveri Olivierio 1950 – 1950 Giovanni Fornari
9 Enrico Aliviero 1950 – 1953 Giovanni Fornari
10 Carlo Vecco 1953 – 1956
11
 
Photo of Mohamed Sheikh Jamal aka "Jamaal Jabiye" - 1st Somali Mayor of Mogadishu, 1956 – 1958. Pre-independence of Italian Somaliland
Mohamed Sheekh Jamaal 1956 – 1958
12
 
Photo of Ali Omar Scego, First Somali Ambassador to Belgium, Mayor of Mogadishu in 1960, Minister
Ali Omar Sheegow 1958 – 1960

Post-independence mayors

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Since Somalia's independence on 1 July 1960, mayors of Mogadishu have been appointed by the President of Somalia:

# Image Mayor Term Party President
13 Ahmed Rage 1960 – 1962 Somali Youth League Aden Abdullah Osman Daar
14 Ahmed Muude 1962 – 1963 Somali Youth League
15 Shariif Imaankeey 1963 – 1965 Somali Youth League
16 Cumar Istarliin 1965 – 1966 Somali Youth League
17 Shariif Caydaruus 1966 – 1970 Somali Youth League Abdirashid Ali Shermarke

Sheikh Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein

18 Axmed Cadde 1970 – 1970 Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party Siad Barre
19 Osman Jeelle 1970 – 1973[1] Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
20
 
Hassan Abshir Farah 1973 – 1976[citation needed] Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
21 Yusuf Aburas 1976 – 1981[citation needed] Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
22 Cabdullaahi Salaad 1981 – 1982 Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
23
 
Hassan Abshir Farah 1982 – 1987[citation needed] Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
24 Ali Ougas 1987 – 1990[2][3] Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
25 Syedomar Afrah 1990 – 1990[3] Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
26 Ahmed Jilacow 1990 – 1991[4] Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
27 Cabdullaahi Gacal Sebriye 1991 – 1994 United Somali Congress Ali Mahdi Muhammad
28 Hussein Ali Ahmed 1994 - 2000 United Somali Congress
29 Abdullahi Muse Hussein 2000 – 2004[5] United Somali Congress
Ali Mahdi Muhammad

Abdiqasim Salad Hassan

30 Ibrahim Shaweye 2005 - 2007 [6] Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
31 Adde Gabow 2007 – 2007
32 Mohamed Omar Habeb 2007 – 2008
Mohamed Dhakahtur 2008 – 2010 Adan Mohamed Nuur Madobe

Sharif Sheikh Ahmed

33   Mohamed Nur 2010 – 2014 Justice and Communist Party Sharif Sheikh Ahmed

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

34   Hassan Mohamed Hussein 2014 – 2015 Independent Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
35   Yusuf Hussein Jimaale 2015 – 2017 Peace and Development Party
36 Thabit Abdi Mohammed 2017 – 2018 Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed
37   Abdirahman Omar Osman 2018 – 2019 Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed
38   Omar Muhamoud Finnish 2019 – 2022 Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed
39   Yusuf Hussein Jimaale 2022 – Incumbent Union for Peace and Development Party Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

Vice mayors

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Iman Nur Ikar

The mayor of Mogadishu is assisted by a vice mayor or deputy mayor. The current vice mayor is Iman Nur Ikar.

Notable former vice mayors

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Towards the end of the Somali Rebellion, President Siad Barre was sometimes mockingly referred to by many as the "Mayor of Mogadishu," based on the fact that Barre controlled little territory outside the capital.[7] By 1989, when the United Somali Congress had captured most surrounding towns and villages, this had become a common saying in Somalia, and on 29 September 1990, the British newspaper The Economist used the phrase in reference to Barre.[8]

During the early 1990s, after the overthrow of the Siad regime and during the Somali famine, Dan Eldon, a British photojournalist who covered the famine and conflict, became popular among Mogadishans and was nicknamed the "Mayor of Mogadishu."[9][10]

See also

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References

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[11]

  1. ^ Abukar, Hassan (26 May 2015). Mogadishu Memoir. AuthorHouse. ISBN 9781504911559.
  2. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | Somalia: Information on the mayor of Mogadishu during 1990-1992 and whether the city of Mogadishu issued identity cards and the reasons behind their issuance". Refworld. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | Somalia: Update to SOM27549 of 27 August 1997 on place of issue of Somali birth certificates; update to SOM12922.E of 27 January 1993 on the names of the mayors of Mogadishu in 1988 and 1990". Refworld. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  4. ^ Kapteijns, Lidwien (18 December 2012). Clan Cleansing in Somalia: The Ruinous Legacy of 1991. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-0812207583.
  5. ^ Barise, Hassan (3 September 2001). "Taxman returns to Mogadishu". BBC News.
  6. ^ "WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY in Mogadishu, Mogadishu University and SCWE". www.somwe.com. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  7. ^ Harper, Mary (9 February 2012). Getting Somalia Wrong?: Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State. Zed Books Ltd. ISBN 9781780321059.
  8. ^ Harper, Mary (9 February 2012). Getting Somalia Wrong?: Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State. Zed Books Ltd. p. 117. ISBN 9781780321059.
  9. ^ "Young photographer exposed Somalia's horrors". CNN. 7 December 1997. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  10. ^ Lorch, Donatella (22 August 1993). "Endpaper/Life and Times; Four Friends". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  11. ^ https://www.radiodalsan.com/en/77124/2022/09/yussuf-hussein-madaale-takes-charge-at-mogadishu-and-banadir-region/ [bare URL]