Garad Jama Garad Ali (Garaad Jaamac Garaad Cali)

Who is he?

Garad Jama Garad Ali is the 21st Garad (senior traditional leader) of the Dhulbahante (Wikipedia, Garad Jama Garad Ali). He was born in 1974 in Las Anod, the son of Garad Ali Garad Jama (same source). Wikipedia notes that another source gives Sahdheer as his home town (same source).

Succession and coronation

His father died in 1985 when he was 11, so his uncle Garad Abdiqani Garad Jama held the title (Wikipedia). Garad Abdiqani led the Dhulbahante delegation at the 1991 Burao conference and signed the Somaliland declaration, and later took part in founding Puntland in 1998 (same source). He died on 9 February 2006 (same source).

Garad Jama was crowned on 22 May 2006 in the Geedo-Qarsay valley near Las Anod, where his father, uncle and grandfather had also been crowned (same source). Guests included former Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galaydh and Puntland's president and vice-president (same source). See Ali Khalif Galaydh.

2007 to 2022

After Somaliland forces took control of Las Anod in 2007, he did not visit the city for fifteen years (Wikipedia). In 2009 he told the BBC that Somaliland's army should withdraw from Las Anod and Buuhoodle (same source). He joined Khatumo State as a traditional leader from about 2012, and in 2017 criticised the plan of its president, Ali Khalif Galaydh, to merge Khatumo into Somaliland (same source). In 2019 he met Somali Region president Mustafa Mohammed Omar in Werder, Ethiopia (same source).

The 2023 Las Anod conflict

On 23 January 2023 he returned to Las Anod for the first time in fifteen years (Wikipedia). On 6 February 2023 he and other Dhulbahante elders declared their intent to form a state government named SSC-Khaatumo (same source). See Las Anod.

In short

The Dhulbahante's senior traditional leader since 2006, and a central figure in the founding of SSC-Khaatumo in 2023.