Earlier this week, a prominent leader in the #Somali community & one of the founding fathers of #Puntland passed away in Canada. An economist by profession, Dr Mohamed Omar Giama ( Dhigic-Dhigic)’s long political history started when he joined the Somali Youth League as a teen.

In later years, Dr. Giama held different positions in the #Somali government including as ambassador to the European Community (EC) for over a decade.

In 1975, when #Djibouti nationalists kidnapped the French ambassador to #Somalia in Mogadishu, Dr. Giama helped broker a deal by serving as a volunteer hostage to ensure the safe exchange of the ambassador for 2 activists of the FLCS imprisoned in France. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/03/29/archives/french-envoy-freed-in-exchange-in-aden.html

From 1982 to 1984, Dr. Giama served as Minister of Commerce before returning to Brussels as #Somali ambassador to the EC. Not long after, the political situation in Mogadishu started to deteriorate with mass demonstrations occurring in July 1989 resulting in almost 300 deaths.

This action prompted Dr.Giama to join other #Somali leaders in forming the Council for National Reconciliation and Salvation (CNRS), a political organization that transcended clan loyalties and sought political change in #Somalia.

The CNRS were committed to democratization, issuing their first Manifesto in May 1990, calling for Barre's resignation, the establishment of an interim government consisting of representatives of the opposition movements, and a timetable for multiparty elections. #Somalia

Dr. Giama was among the signatories of the Manifesto who were arrested and detained, as violence continued to engulf #Mogadishu. In July 1990, Amnesty International listed Dr. Mohamed Omar Giama as a prisoner of conscience they feared would be executed. #Somalia

In 1994, Dr Giama served as the head of a nonpolitical administration for the northeast regions and was tasked with the establishment of a North East Somalia State ( now #Puntland) envisaged to be one of several states forming a future Federal #Somalia.

In the late 90s, Dr Mohamed Omar Giama emigrated to North America to reunite with his family and became a philanthropist. Dr Giama will be remembered as a visionary & statesman. He was a remarkable man whose impact will be felt for generations to come. #Puntland #Somalia