Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge | |
Native Name: | Cabdikariin Axmed Mooge |
Birth Place: | Sin-ujiif, Somalia |
Office: | Mayor of Hargeisa |
Term Start: | 17 June 2021 |
Predecessor: | Abdurrahman Mahmoud Aidiid |
Party: | Waddani |
Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge Liibaan (Somali: Cabdikariin Axmed Mooge Liibaan) is a Somaliland politician and is the current Mayor of Hargeisa, the largest city and capital of Somaliland.[1] [2] [3]
Abdikarim was born in 1974 in Sin-ujiif, a village in the outskirts of Garowe, Somalia.[4] Abdikarim is the son of famous Somali artist Ahmed Mooge Liibaan and nephew of famous Somali artist Mohamed Mooge Liibaan. He grew up in Hargeisa, where he completed his primary and secondary education. At the outbreak of clashes in Hargeisa during the Somaliland War of Independence, Abdikarim fled to Ethiopia, specifically the Kaam-Abokor refugee camp.
Upon his return to Somaliland, he and several other youth founded the HAVAYOCO agency, with the goal of supporting vulnerable people and youth. He later worked for UN agencies and international organizations, where he moved abroad and spent some of his life, but later returned to Hargeisa.
During the Silanyo administration, Abdikarim served in two positions; as the Deputy Minister of National Planning and as the Deputy Minister of Fisheries, but he later resigned.[5]
Abdikarim is a member of the Waddani party, the largest opposition party in Somaliland.He,succeeded the previous mayor,Abdurrahman Mahmoud Aidiid as the mayor of Hargeisa after the 2021 Somaliland municipal elections, gaining the most votes out of all candidates in Hargeisa.[6] [7]