MOGADISHU, Somalia – The President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, fired the rector of the Somali National University Dr. Hassan Omar Mahad-Alle on Sunday.
The decision was announced through a presidential decree issued by the office of Hassan Sheikh, who appointed Dr Hassan Osman Gagal as the acting president of the university.
Farah Abdulkadir, the Minister of Education instructed the heads of the university offices to work with the acting Dr. Gacal during the transition period of picking a new rector.
It is unclear the reason behind the dismissal. It came days after the head of the Faculty of Social Affairs, the Department of Journalism, Nageye Ali Khalif defected to Al-Shabaab.
The sacked rector recently complained about the University’s administrative process and it was evident that there was conflict in the management about the employment.
After closing down in 1990 due to the collapse of the former military regime, the university reopened in August 2014. It was established in 1971.
