Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo (Somalian President) - Full Bio, Life And Study

Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed (Somali: Maxamed Cabdulaahi Maxamed Farmaajo, Arabic: محمد عبد الله محمد‎‎; born 5 May, 1962) is a Somali diplomat, professor, and politician who is the 9th and current President of Somalia. He was previously Prime Minister of Somalia from November 2010 until June 2011 and is the founder and Chairman of the Tayo Political Party. He became the President of Somalia after winning the the 2017 Somali presidential election with 184 votes out of a total of 328.

Lived in Buffalo

Farmajo, 54, was born in Mogadishu. He worked at the Somali Embassy in Washington in the mid-1980s and decided to stay in the United States because of political turmoil in Somalia, according to his campaign website biography.

He moved to Buffalo, New York, because of its sizable community of Somali refugees, reported the Buffalo News, citing his daughter, Intisar Mohamed, who still lives in the area.

He worked as Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority commissioner and at the New York State Department of Transportation, the campaign website said. He earned a bachelor's and master's degrees from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, the website said.

In 2010 then-President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed asked him to serve as prime minister, a position he resigned because of a rift with the President, the Buffalo News reported.

"Somalia moving forward towards progress," tweeted the nation's minister of foreign affairs, Abdusalam H. Omer, in reaction to Farmajo's win.

Farmajo faces many challenges in governing Somalia, one of the seven Muslim majority countries that President Donald Trump included in his executive order on immigration. The order currently is under challenge in the US courts.

One of the world's poorest countries, Somalia's governance structure, economic infrastructure, and institutions have been destroyed by civil war, the World Bank reports.

Extremist groups such as Al-Shabaab emerged early this decade and have staged brazen attacks throughout the nation.

Omar Nor reported from Mogadishu. Farai Sevenzo reported from Kenya. James Masters wrote in London and Ralph Ellis wrote in Atlanta.