Muuse Biixi Cabdi 5th President of Somaliland since 13 December 2017 Date of Birth: 02.01.1948

1. Early Life and Education
2. Military Career
3. Political Career

Early Life and Education

Musa Bihi Abdi, the 5th President of Somaliland, was born in 1948 in a small village west of Hargeisa. As a child, he relocated to Hargeisa and attended Sheikh Barawi School. He received his primary education at Biyo Dhacay School in 1959 and completed his education in Amoud.

Military Career

In the 1970s, Bihi was selected as one of the students for military training at the Soviet Yuri Gagarin Air Force Academy, where he became an accomplished fighter-bomber pilot. Upon his return, he emerged as a prominent member of the Somali Air Force during the 1977 war between Somalia and Ethiopia.

From 1983 to 1985, Colonel Musa Bihi Abdi also underwent training at Fort Lee, Virginia. In 1985, he joined the Somali National Movement, a rebel group fighting for secession from Somalia. From 1985 to 1988, Bihi played a key role in conducting intensive guerrilla operations against the Siad Barre regime. He served as a rebel commander until 1990.

Political Career

Following Somaliland's declaration of independence in 1991, Musa Bihi played a vital role in the reconciliation process between Somaliland clans in Burao, Berbera, Sheikh, and Borama.

In 1993, after the collapse of the former Somali military government, Musa Bihi became the Minister of Interior and National Security in the government of President Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal. In 2002, he joined the Executive Committee of the Kulmiye political party. In 2015, Bihi was elected by the party convention as Kulmiye's presidential candidate for the upcoming 2017 presidential election, which he won with 55.1% of the vote.