VZCZCXRO3336
RR RUEHDE RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNR #0052/01 0091505
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091505Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8180
INFO RUCNSOM/SOMALIA COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 000052 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PINR SO
SUBJECT: SOMALIA - PUNTLAND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, 
CONTINUED 
 
REF: NAIROBI 46 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  As noted reftel, Abdirahman Mohamed 
"Faroole" was elected the fourth President of the 
semi-autonomous region of Puntland on January 8.  Mohamed's 
inauguration on January 11 should cap an election that has 
been free of acrimony and whose results no one at this point 
appears to be disputing.  Numerous conversations with 
Puntlanders since Mohamed's election, however, suggest that 
his presidency could well be a continuation of business as 
usual in a region where corruption and government go 
hand-in-hand.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) January 8 saw the election of Abdirahman Mohamed 
"Faroole" by a margin of 49 - 17 in the third round over 
competitor Abdullahi Ahmed Jama.  In winning the presidency, 
Mohamed outpolled seven competitors who competed for the 
votes of Puntland's 66 parliamentarians.  Joining Mohamed in 
office will be Vice President Abdisama Ali Shire.  Shire 
entered the election in competition against a field of six 
other competitors, but after Mohamed was elected President, 
the two Majertein vice presidential candidates withdrew their 
candidacies, as tradition mandates.  (Note:  Mohamed is a 
member of the Majertein clan, and tradition does not permit 
that members of one clan hold the region's two leadership 
positions.) 
 
Biographical Details 
-------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) President-elect Mohamed is about 64 years old and is 
a fixture on the Somali leadership scene. We are told he was 
President of Somalia's Central Bank during the Siad Barre 
era, and has served variously as Minister for International 
Cooperation during the October 2004 - January 2005 interim 
presidency of Mohamed Abdi Hashi, as a founding member of the 
Puntland regional administration, and as Minister of Finance 
during Abdullahi Yusuf's presidency of Puntland from 2002 - 
¶2004.  Yusuf fired Mohamed as Minister of Finance, alleging 
"financial mismanagement."  (Observers tell us that Mohamed 
allegedly misappropriated thousands of dollars in security 
force salaries.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) Mohamed has apparently long harbored presidential 
ambitions.  He ran for the presidency in 2005, polling third 
behind current incumbent Mohamud Musse Hirsi "Adde Muse" and 
Mohamed Abdi Hashi. In that contest, Mohamed withdrew, and 
threw his votes to Hirsi, who has governed since. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Mohamed brings a certain amount of international 
experience to the job.  He is an Australian citizen, and 
reportedly has a masters degree in economics from an 
Australian university.  Still, one observer described him, in 
spite of his higher education, as "not refined, a village 
type."  Others describe him as "decisive, straightforward," 
and a "Puntland patriot." 
 
¶6. (SBU) Mohamed is a member of the Majertein/Isse Mohamud 
clan.  (The Majertein is the majority Darod/Harti subclan in 
Puntland.)  His presidency rounds completes the "sons of 
Mohamud" trilogy, as former Puntland President Abdullahi 
Yusuf and incumbent President Hirsi are members of the Omar 
Mohamud and Osman Mohamud Majertein sub-clans respectively. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Mohamed is expected to take office on Sunday, 
January 11.  If the timetable of predecessor Hirsi is any 
guide, it could take as long as one month for Mohamed to name 
a cabinet.  Mohamed's remarks to the Parliament on January 8, 
immediately after being elected, suggest his priorities as 
President.  The President-elect reportedly announced a 
determination to crack down on piracy, attack corruption, 
strengthen Puntland's economy, and improve --in the wake of 
the October 29 Bossaso suicide bombings-- its security. 
 
Abdullahi Yusuf Fading? 
----------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Although recently-resigned Transitional Federal 
Government President Abdullahi Yusuf remained, in public at 
least, studiously neutral during the presidential campaign, 
his interest in being present for the Puntland elections has 
fed rumors that he favored one or more candidates, among them 
incumbent Mohamud Musse Hirsi, however. If that indeed was 
the case, then Yusuf's inability to engineer Hirsi's 
re-election (Hirsi won only 8 votes in round one and 4 in 
round two) suggests vastly diminished influence for Yusuf. 
 
NAIROBI 00000052  002 OF 002 
 
 
RANNEBERGER