A Woman from Al Mahrah Makes History as Somalia's First Female Deputy Speaker
Somalia’s House of the People (Lower House of the parliament) elected Ms. Saadia Yasin Haji Samatar as the first female serving as the first deputy speaker. Where she received 137 votes in the second round of voting, defeating Mr. Mohamed Ali Omar “Ananug”, who received 107 votes. Haji Sumter, a member of the former parliament, was known for her opposition to the government of outgoing President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, even among the opposition MPs.
A Woman Descended from Al Mahrah Tribe Makes History
In the 2017 elections, the deputy, Haji Sumter, who descended from Al Mahrah Arab tribe, succeeded in becoming a member of Somalia’s House of the People, being the representative of the population sector to which she belongs in the federal state of Puntland located in the northeast of the country. Her success was due to the experience that she has in the parliamentary and politician in her homeland, which suffers a lot of trouble. In April 2018, she became well-known among the 275 deputies, when she made a statement to the Somali media expressing her disappointment with the administration of President, Mohamed Abdullah Farmajo, for the attacks that happened on the members of Somalia’s House of the People by the security forces, to prevent them from entering the House of the People and carrying out their duties. She stated at the time that the president and the leaders of the security agencies had made a bad name for themselves, accusing them of being responsible for the attacks that the security forces had committed against elected legislators, who have impunity. After a short period, Haji Sumter announced her support to the merchants of the “Bakaara Market”, the most important market in the HOA, against the attacks they are being subjected to by the extremist Harakat Al-Shabaab, on the one hand, and the continuous increase in customs fees and taxes imposed on them by the government, which is unable to provide them with security on the other hand by announcing that "the country has no right to take taxes from merchants and entrepreneurs in “Bakaara Market”.
The Arabic article was published by independentarabia