Saado Ali Warsame (Saado Cali Warsame)

Who was she?

Saado Ali Warsame was one of the best-known Somali singers of her generation. Her songs dealt with politics, justice, national pride and love (Wikipedia, Saado Ali Warsame). From 2012 she served as a member of the Federal Parliament of Somalia (same source).

Early life

She was born in 1950 in Buuhoodle, in the Togdheer region, to a family of herders (Wikipedia).

Her music

She used satire, metaphor and references to history so that hard ideas were easy to grasp (Wikipedia). In the time of the military government, her song "Laand Karuusar" took aim at people who used public property for themselves (same source). She also sang duets with Hasan Adan Samatar, including "Darmaan" (Wikipedia, Hasan Adan Samatar).

She took part in the "Deelley" chain of poems, in which many poets answered each other in verse (Wikipedia). After 1991 her songs called on Somalis to rebuild together. "Aan kuu Taliyo" used humour about political quarrels (same source).

Life in Minnesota

After the civil war began, she moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and later lived in St. Cloud (Wikipedia). She became a US citizen and kept singing for the Somali community abroad. See Somalis in Minneapolis and St Paul.

Member of Parliament

When the Federal Parliament was set up in 2012, she returned to Mogadishu. She took a seat in it for a Puntland constituency (Wikipedia).

Her death

On 23 July 2014 gunmen attacked her car in Mogadishu and killed her and her driver. Al-Shabaab said it carried out the attack (Al Jazeera, 23 July 2014). Al Jazeera reported that she was the fourth politician killed in Somalia that year (same source).

The next day the government held a state funeral for her at Villa Somalia. She was buried at the Madina Hospital cemetery in the Wadajir district (Wikipedia). In April 2015 a court sentenced two men to death for the killing (same source).

In short

A singer whose songs dealt with politics and justice, and who later served as a member of parliament.