So, who is this man the Ogaden Supreme Council selected as the preferred governor to take on governor Ahmed

Ahmed Muhumed, the man Ogaden Supreme Council fronted as the next governor of Wajir County {Courtesy}

NAIROBI—Ahmed Muhumed, the man the Ogaden Supreme Council fronted as the next governor has admitted in his application letter to the chairman of the elder committee that he’d never had stint in public office and that his candidature will be safe bet to rally support across the country.

In his application seen by Kulan Post, Muhumed argued that his name would not trigger bad publicity if his opponents choose to smear his campaign.

“I am fresh and worthwhile bet for the seat with no political baggage,” Muhumed noted in his resume.

“This is a unifying factor for the people of Wajir County,” he added.

The precedent of going for a less known individuals for the post of the governor was set by the Degodia Council of Elders in 2013 when the elders drown from all the Degodia sub clans  settled for the incumbent governor Ahmed Abdullahi who unsuccessfully gunned for Wajir West in the 2007 elections.

In late July last year, the same model of selection was used when Ugas Sheikh Mohamed  was endorsed by the Sultan of Fai although the earlier verdict was declared null in December through a controversial declaration by Sultan Najib at a Wajir hotel.

The model betrays Western ideals of electoral democracy but the process gives satisfaction to all parties involved in the local elections to avert clan tension.

Muhumed left Wajir High School in 1995 as the chairman of the Islamic club and joined the Kenyatta University to pursue Bachelor of Science (biochemistry) and graduated in 2001.

He holds Masters in International Studies and another in Strategic Management from University of Nairobi and JKUAT respectively.

Muhumed is the executive director of SomaliAid and has served as a senior consultants at APPTODEV Consulting Limited and was part of the team that set up the ten-member cabinet of the Jubaland administration headed by Ahmed Madobe.

“I was among the experts who contributed to the drafting of the of the Jubaland constitution as well as mapping and cataloguing of the civil servant in the Federal Government of Somalia,” Muhumed said.

Between 2001 and 2009, he was based at Dubai while working in the freight industry. In 2009, Muhumed joined the civil society orgernisations.

“I am well traveled globally to get grasp of the world and how things are done elsewhere—some kind of benchmarking on development.

“Having lived in AUE, traveled across the Arab Gulf, a region that shares the same climatic situation with Wajir County…the experience will come in handy in terms of putting Wajir at par or more advanced than those tiny but well sophisticated gulf states,” Muhumed argued in his 13-point application letter to the Ogaden Supreme Council.