About Us

Hassan Ali Khayre – Visionary Somali Leader & Former Prime Minister

Hassan Ali Khayre was born in the village of Jacar, Galgaduud Province, located about fifty kilometers from El Buur, in the Hawiye clan. In 1991, fleeing the Civil War, Hassan Ali Hayre moved to live in Norway, where he entered the University of Oslo in 1994. Hassan Ali Khayre has dual citizenship – Norway and Somalia. Norwegian laws prohibit dual citizenship. However, an exception has been made for Somalis. Like many of his compatriots, Hassan Ali Khayre took advantage of the right to keep a Somali passport upon receipt of a Norwegian one. In 1998, he graduated from the University with a diploma in political science and sociology and then continued his studies at Edinburgh Business School and Heriot-Watt University. He returned to Oslo, where he joined the Norwegian Refugee Council . Then he was engaged in private business, but in 2006 he returned to the Norwegian Refugee Council as a regional manager, where he worked for another nine years.

On February 23, 2017, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed tweeted about Hassan Ali Khayre as the country’s prime minister. Before he was appointed prime minister, he had never held public office, although he had contacts with senior leaders and government officials throughout his career. At a meeting held on March 1, 2017, parliament members approved the appointment of Khayre  as prime minister by a majority vote. On March 21, 2017, Hassan Ali Khayre  thanked the parliamentarians for their support and submitted his candidacy to the Cabinet of Ministers of Somalia, approved by the Parliament on March 29, 2017 . He promised to tackle corruption and bring justice to those abusing their official position. He also noted that the country’s leadership’s focus should be strengthening security and conducting large-scale reforms.