Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal (, ; August 15, 1928 – May 3, 2002) was a Somali politician who served as the

president of Somaliland The president of the Republic of Somaliland (; ) is the head of state and head of government of Somaliland. The president is also commander-in-chief of the Somaliland Armed Forces. The president represents the Government of Somaliland. The f ...

from 1993 to his death in 2002. He previously served as the prime minister of the

State of Somaliland Somaliland, officially the State of Somaliland (), was an independent country in the territory of the present-day unilaterally declared Republic of Somaliland, which regards itself as its legal successor. It existed on the territory of former ...

between 26 June and 1 July 1960 and as the first

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of the

Somali Republic The Somali Republic (; ; ) was formed by the union of the Trust Territory of Somaliland (formerly Italian Somaliland) and the State of Somaliland (formerly British Somaliland). A government was formed by Abdullahi Issa Mohamud and Muhammad ...

for eleven days in 1960 and again from 1967 to 1969.

Life and education

Egal was born in 1928, in Odweyne then a part of

British Somaliland British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate (), was a protectorate of the United Kingdom in modern Somaliland. It was bordered by Italian Somalia, French Somali Coast and Ethiopian Empire, Abyssinia (Italian Ethiopia from 1936 ...

. He hailed from the Issa Musse sub-division of the Habar Awal clan of

Isaaq The Isaaq (, , ''Banu Ishaq'') is a major Somali clans, Somali clan. It is one of the largest Somali clan families in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory. The Isaaq people claim in a traditional legend ...

. He completed his primary, intermediate, and secondary education in former

and then moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Egal was married to Asha Saeed Abby, and together they had three sons and two daughters.

Career

Somaliland Flying for the first time The White and Blue Somali Flag at the Independence Celebrations on 26 June 1960

Prime Minister of the State of Somaliland

On 26 June 1960, Egal was Prime minister of the newly independent

, which merged five days later with the former Trust Territory of Somalia to form the

on July 1, 1960.

Government work

He served as the first Somali Republic's

minister of defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

(1960–1961), Education Minister (1962–1963), Prime minister (1967–1969), and ambassador to India (1976–1978), although he was imprisoned twice under Barre dictatorship.

Prime Minister of the Somali Republic

In 1967, Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was elected President and he appointed Egal as the Prime Minister. The ascension Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal to the role of Prime Minister was reportedly in large part financed by thousands of dollars in covert support to him and other pro-Western elements in the ruling Somali Youth League party by the American

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. He was still the prime minister and in Washington, D.C., when President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was assassinated on October 15, 1969. Shortly afterward, the newly established Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) led by Major General

Siad Barre Mohammed Siad Barre (, Osmanya script: , ''Muhammad Ziād Barīy''; 6 October 1919 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali military officer, politician, and revolutionary who served as the third president of Somalia from 21 October 1969 to 26 Janu ...

, Brigadier General Mohamed Ainashe Gule, Lieutenant Colonel Salaad Gabeyre Kediye and Chief of Police Jama Korshel seized power.Adam, p.226 The SRC subsequently renamed the country the

Somali Democratic Republic The Somali Democratic Republic (; , ; ) was a socialist state in Somalia that existed from 1969 to 1991. Established in October 1969, the Somali Democratic Republic emerged following a 1969 Somali coup d'état, coup d'état led by Major General ...

,''The Encyclopedia Americana: complete in thirty volumes. Skin to Sumac'', Volume 25, (Grolier: 1995), p.214. arrested members of the former civilian government, banned political parties,. dissolved the parliament and the Supreme Court, and suspended the constitution.Peter John de la Fosse Wiles, ''The New Communist Third World: an essay in political economy'', (Taylor & Francis: 1982), p.279. Egal was among the politicians detained by the SRC for his prominent role in the nation's early government. He was eventually released and was named the Ambassador to India (1976-1978) before the Barre regime imprisoned him again on charges of conspiracy until 1985.

President of Somaliland

Egal managed to successfully disarm and rehabilitate rebel groups, stabilised the north western region and Economy of Somaliland, successfully managed to establish bilateral trade with foreign countries, introduce Somaliland new currency the

Somaliland shilling The Somaliland shilling (, ; abbreviation: Sl.Sh. or SLSH; symbol: Slash (punctuation), /-) is the official currency of the Republic of Somaliland, an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised state in the Horn of Africa, recognised i ...

, as well as the Somaliland passport and Somaliland national flag. Throughout his term as president of the Republic of

Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E ...

, Egal's dedication to the secessionist cause was doubted and challenged by hardliners, particularly within the

Somali National Movement The Somali National Movement (, ) was one of the first and most important Guerrilla warfare, organized guerilla groups and Mujahideen groups that opposed the Siad Barre regime in the 1980s to the 1990s, as well as being the main anti-government f ...

(SNM), who believed that he still ultimately hoped to reconcile with other political actors in the rest of Somalia. In August 2001, Egal survived by one vote a

motion In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an o ...

tabled by several regional MPs charging him of half-heartedly pursuing separatism. In an interview with IRIN the same year, SNM leader Abdirahman Awale also said of Egal that "when he says he is for independence, it is for local consumption only. He tells the people here one thing, but in his speeches elsewhere he has clearly declared that Somalia will unite one day. He says we will talk to the southerners when they make their home clean and negotiate with them... He says one thing to the public, and a different thing to the international community."

Death

Egal died on May 3, 2002, in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

while undergoing surgery at a military hospital. His body was returned to Somaliland for a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

, whereafter his three sons laid him to rest next to his father, in accordance with his last wishes. Around 4,000 mourners reportedly attended his burial in

Berbera Berbera (; , ) is the capital of the Sahil, Somaliland, Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country, located approximately 160 km from the national capital, Hargeisa. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of t ...

, and the regional parliament declared seven days of mourning. Dahir Rayale Kahin was sworn in the next day as the new president.

References

External links

IRIN Interview with Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, President of Somaliland
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Egal, Mohamed Haji Ibrahim 1928 births 2002 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Somalia 21st-century presidents of Somaliland 21st-century Somaliland politicians 20th-century presidents of Somaliland United Peoples' Democratic Party politicians British Somaliland people of World War II Somali independence activists Issa Musa Defence ministers of Somalia Education ministers of Somalia Ambassadors of Somalia to India Somali Youth League politicians