As the joint candidate of the RPP and moderate wing of the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), Guelleh won the presidential election held on 9 April 1999 with 74.02% of the vote, defeating his only challenger, the independent candidate Moussa Ahmed Idriss. On 4 February 1999, President Gouled Aptidon, uncle of Ismail Guelleh, announced his retirement at the time of the next election, and an extraordinary congress of his party, the ruling People's Rally for Progress (RPP), chose Guelleh as its presidential candidate, handpicked by Aptidon. He became President of Djibouti in 1999.ĭjibouti is one of four countries in Africa that have experienced instances of immediate successions from one family member to another. He received training from the Somali National Security Service and then from the French Secret Service, and was intended to become his uncle's successor. Īfter Djibouti became independent, he became head of the secret police and chief of the cabinet in the government of his uncle Hassan Gouled Aptidon, for whom he also served as chief of staff for more than two decades. In 1987, he became a member of the party leadership. Guelleh was elected into the LPAI’s Central Committee in 1983 and subsequently became the director of a cultural commission in Paris. He then became involved in the African People's League for Independence (LPAI) chaired by Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who campaigns for independence. In 1975, he was suspended from his duties because he was suspected of transmitting information to the independence movement. In 1964, at the age of 18, Ismail Omar Guelleh began working in the General Information of the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas, because he spoke Amharic, Somali, Arabic, French, Italian and English. In 1960, Guelleh migrated to Djibouti before finishing high school. When Guelleh was younger he attended a traditional Islamic school. The father of Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, son of Guelleh Batal, is Omar Guelleh, one of the first native teachers in the 1930s before working, following his father's path, on behalf of the Franco-Ethiopian Railway Company (CFE) which built the line connecting Djibouti to Addis Ababa and whose head office was in Dire Dawa. Guelleh was born in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, into the politically powerful Mamassan subclan of the Ciise Dir clan of the Somali ethnic group. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, on 25 January 2019 for his role in the safe evacuation of Indian citizens from Yemen. He is, at the international level, a close ally of France. Guelleh has been characterized as a dictator, and his rule has been criticized by human rights groups and governments, such as the United States. The elections were largely boycotted by the opposition amid complaints over widespread irregularities. Guelleh was first elected as President in 1999 as the handpicked successor to his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who had ruled Djibouti since independence in 1977. He is often referred to by his initials, IOG. He has been in office since 1999, making him one of the longest-serving rulers in Africa. Ismaïl Omar Guelleh ( Somali: Ismaaciil Cumar Geelle Arabic: إسماعيل عمر جليه) (born 27 November 1946) is the current President of Djibouti.
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