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Mumin Gala at the 2012 Summer Olympics, By User: Citizen59 –

Top 10 Most Famous People from Djibouti

The inhabitants of or people descended from Djibouti are known as Djiboutians. The Somali and Afar ethnic groups make up the majority of the population. Although Somali and Afar are the two languages that are most commonly spoken there, Arabic and French are the official ones. North America, Europe, and Australia all have small Djiboutian diasporas. 

However, this article details the top 10 most famous people from politicians, musicians, athletes, and novelists. They include the following;

1. Mohamed Ali Mohamed

Mohamed was a politician from Djibouti who belonged to the People’s Rally for Progress (PDP). He was born in the city of Djibouti on April 29, 1952. He was employed by the Ministry of Trade and was first chosen to serve in the Djiboutian National Assembly in May 1982. He was listed as the RPP’s eighth candidate for Djibouti city in the December 1992 legislative election. On June 8th, 1995, he was appointed Minister of Finance and the Economy after serving as Minister of the Economy.

2.Dileita Mohamed Dileita

Prime Minister of Djibouti Dileita Mohamed Dileita; By U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joseph L. Swaf-

Dileita Mohamed Dileita, an Afar family member who was born on March 12, 1958, in the Djiboutian coastal city of Tadjoura, served as the country’s prime minister from 7 March 2001 to 1 April 2013. Before 2012, he served as vice president of the People’s Rally for Progress (RPP), the ruling political party. In addition, he presided over the ruling coalition’s Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP). Dileita was chosen to serve as the African Union’s special representative to Libya in June 2014.

3. Yacin Yabeh Galeb

From 1977 to December 7, 2000, Yacin Yabeh Galeb served as the Force Nationale de Police of Djibouti’s chief of staff before being demoted to the position of adviser to the interior minister. He was supposed to be President Ismail Omar Guelleh’s longtime buddy, but their friendship had been deteriorating before the incident. Yacin Yabeh Galeb was supposedly freed in June 2001 for medical attention; however, in June 2002, he received a 15-year prison sentence.

4. Rachad Ahmed Saleh Farah

Rachad Ahmed Saleh Farah, a diplomat from Djibouti and ambassador to several nations, was born in 1950. He also serves as the country’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO. From 1989 through 2004, he served as Djibouti’s non-residence ambassador to China, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Thailand, and Australia.

5.Abdourahman A. Waberi

Waberi at the Festivaletteratura, Mantua (2008),By Paolo Montanaro,

Abdourahman A. Waberi is a novelist, essayist, poet, academic, and short-story writer from Djibouti. He was born in Djibouti City, and later on, in 1985, he traveled to France to study English literature. Waberi was a literary critic for Le Monde Diplomatique and a literary consultant for Editions Le Serpent à plumes in Â鶹APP. He served as a jury member for the 2003 and 2004 Lettre Ulysses Awards for the Art of Reportage in Berlin, Germany.

Numerous accolades were given to him, including the 2006 Stefan-George-Preis from Heinrich-Heine-Universität, the 1996 Grand Prix littéraire d’Afrique noire, and the 1998 Prix biennal “Mandate pour la liberté” from PEN France. He was picked by the French literary journal Lire as one of the “50 Writers of Future” in 2005.

6. Omar Farah

Omar Farah Iltireh is a politician from the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (TAFI), which became the Republic of Djibouti in 1977. He was born in Ali-Sabieh, Djibouti, in 1933. He passed away on May 6, 2008, in France.

Before dedicating himself to politics, he started in the teaching profession. The Democratic Union Issa, led by Omar Farah Iltireh, called for a “yes” vote in the 1967 independence referendum, meaning to keep the territory under French rule. Omar Farah was elected to the Assembly TFAI in November 1968 on the Ali Aref Bourhan-led slate, and he was subsequently named minister of public service in local government.

7. Lula Ali Ismael

Djibouti-Canadian film director and screenwriter, Lula Ali Ismael was born in Canada. She is known as “the first lady of the Djibouti cinema” since she was the first Djiboutian woman to produce a film. 

She was one of a wave of immigrants who fled the impoverished and politically insecure African nation of Djibouti in 1992, moving to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She was born in Djibouti in 1978 to an Issa family. She studied office automation and spent seven years working as a legal assistant before becoming interested in acting and taking acting classes. She initially had little parts in a few Quebec television series, but she soon became more interested in filmmaking.

8. Barkat Gourad Hamadou

The Djiboutian Prime Minister/Premier Ministre du Djibouti,By Replayerr –

Barkat Gouraud Hamadou was born on January 1 and passed away on March 18,  2018. He served as Djibouti’s prime minister from 2 October 1978 to 7 March 2001. Hamadou was born in Tew’o, Dikhil Region, southwest of Djibouti, and belonged to the Afar ethnic group.

He was a senator for France before Djibouti gained its independence and was first elected on September 26, 1965, and re-elected on September 22, 1974. In the months following Djibouti’s declaration of independence in June 1977, Hamadou held the position of Minister of Health. 

9. Abdo Xamar Qoodh

Abdo Xamar Qoodh was a well-known Djiboutian songwriter, composer, and singer. He was born in 1949 to a creative family in Ali Sabieh, French Somaliland, the child of Amina Omar and Ismael Bouh.

Abdo first started singing as a child, which marked the beginning of his connection with music. He began singing alongside his older brother, Said Xamar Qoodh, in his early adolescent years, which is when he began his music career in the 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s, Abdo had a huge impact on later generations of Djiboutian musicians. However, Abdo passed away in Djibouti City’s Peltier Hospital on August 8, 1991.

10.Mumin Booqora Gala

Mumin Gala at the 2012 Summer Olympics, By User: Citizen59 –

Mumin Booqora Gala, a runner from Djibouti, was born on September 6, 1986, in Djibouti City.  He took part in the 5000m competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics and finished in thirteenth place.  He finished seventh in the 5000-meter run at the All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2011. He won the silver medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2011 Pan Arab Games in Doha. His 5000-meter personal best is 13 minutes, 17 seconds, which he achieved in Birmingham, United Kingdom, in 2011.  He set a personal best in the marathon at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, finishing in 2:13:04. Gala came in at position twelve.