Nairobi’s Somali Community Honour Late Somalia Prime Minister with Grand Memorial

Somali community in Nairobi held a grand memorial in honour of the late former Prime Minister of Somalia Ali Khalif Galaydh. The speakers noted his great leadership whilst being a prime minister. The man who left was the backbone of Somali politics, said the participants. They praised his role in Somalia’s rebuilding process and his aversion to foreign dictations and the use of force against people.

‘He was resilient’ said a speaker in the mourning gathering. His death is viewed as a national loss to all Somalis.

While touring in Jigjiga, Somali region of Ethiopia, Ali died of an illness not yet medically diagnosed. The Jigjiga administration said he died of COVID-19 while a close companion said he caught diarrhea and died as a result.

The government of Somalia requested the Ethiopian government to fly his body for a national burial and a state funeral. Thousands of mourners trooped to his final resting place as he lay in repose, despite claims of his death not being unrelated to COVID-19; a disease that has come to be associated with a dreadful stigma.

Ali’s family received a tsunami of condolences from Somalis around the world because Ali Khalif was a humble person and a nationalist. He had various political roles since the first government after the independence of Somalia from European colonists.

Somali president Mohamed Abdilahi Farmaajo met the bereaved family to convey his condolence message personally and by hand.