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May Allah Almighty rest in peace, the funeral was held today in Hargeisa for the late journalist Madar Abdi Ahmed, who passed away yesterday in a hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The burial service of the late journalist Madar Abdi Ahmed was held this evening at Baqiic graveyard on the edges of Hargeisa, and was attended by Somaliland government officials, the media community and a large number of the public.
Journalists and officials who attended the funeral described the deceased’s personality and the role he played in the growth of the Somaliland media, particularly radio and television, as a leader.
He has been described as a gifted person with good manners, tolerance, patience, determination, talented, and polite who stood by anyone who needed advice and assistance, according to journalists from various parts of the country’s media.
The deceased was described as a person who was blessed by Allah Almighty for reaching out to people who needed help and assistance by the Ambassador of Somaliland to Djibouti, the Chairman of the Somaliland Civic Services agency, and the Chairman of Sagaljet Company, all of whom knew the deceased during his time in the media and before.
His Days in the Arena of Somaliland Media
May Allah Almighty rest in peace on the late Madar Abdi Ahmed in the Hereafter, he was born sometime in 1979, grew up in, received his schooling from Middle School to University level in Hargeisa.
Before the establishment of Somaliland National Television (SLNTV), the late Madar, considered one of the veteran journalists who have been in the country’s media for quite a while, began his career at Hargeisa TV, which was the first television station in the country, as a correspondent reporting daily news and preparing historical programs that aired on that television which was later called Somaliland Space Channel. He also worked on Horn Cable TV for several years.
After that, he worked at the Somaliland Ministry of Information and, more precisely, at the Somaliland National Television. There, a number of seasoned journalists who had previously worked for private media outlets congregated with the intention of enhancing the production of government media.
The late Madar will be remembered and will go down the history for a remarkable series of programs that he prepared about the massacre of the Somaliland people by the government of late Siad Barre, one of which was the ethnic cleansing that took place on the Jazira Beach in the outskirts of Mogadishu in 1989. The deceased had an interview with the only person who survived from that massacre
Late in 2013, the late Madar established a media outlet in Hargeisa called Himilo Media Group, including its newspaper known as Himilo after taking over the ownership from Ahmed Sandoon, who owned the name of the newspaper that used to appear in 1998 – 2002.
Guest article first published on SII
