Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, president of Djibouti not ready to “hand over”

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh assured in 2022 that he was “past his age” and had to “hand over”. Four years later, at the age of 78, the Djiboutian head of state, in power since 1999, finally refused in the name of "stability" and announced that he had been re-elected, unsurprisingly, for a sixth term at the head of this strategically small territory. located in the Horn of Africa.

The head of state was opposed to only one candidate, Mohamed Farah Samatar, leader of a small party without political stature.

President of one of the least populated countries on the continent (around a million inhabitants), the man nicknamed IOG has been able to exploit his strategic geographical position, on the borders of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, which has made him essential and influential on the international scene.

“No, no and no, three times!”: in 2022 the head of state also assured that he would not touch the Constitution setting the age limit for running for the presidency at 75. In November, however, the basic law was finally amended to pave the way for a new mandate.

IOG was born in 1947 in Dire-Dawa, in neighboring Ethiopia, where his father was a railway worker. He returned to his country at the age of 13, then French Coast of Somalis, and stopped his studies a few years later. His career began in the police, from which he was ousted for having campaigned in favor of independence, says his official biography.

In 1977, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, first president of newly independent Djibouti, appointed him to the strategic position of chief of staff, which he held for more than 20 years.

IOG combines this function with that of head of security and intelligence services, a highly sensitive position in a country weakened by the dissensions between Issa and Afar, the two large communities, which will lead to several years of armed conflict.

- "Absolute control" -

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, who sports a salt and pepper beard, slight baldness and overweight, is like his mentor an Issa, a Somali clan. The Afar consider themselves marginalized.

In 1999, Hassan Gouled Aptidon retired. His designated heir apparent takes over, elected then re-elected in each election with more than 75% of the votes. In 2010, at the end of his second term, a Parliament committed to his cause had already removed the two-term limit from the Constitution.

In 2021, the latest election, he won more than 97% of the votes.

His mandates were marked by an authoritarian exercise of power, but also by significant economic development around port infrastructure.

“He had made the decision not to run again (this year) and it was very difficult to convince him to return,” Dileita Mohamed Dileita, president of the National Assembly who was his Prime Minister for 12 years, told AFP. "But with the situation in the Middle East and the war on our doorstep on the other side of the