Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi

Sayyid Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi (, born 5 June 1958) is a Comorian Islamic leader and politician, who served as the eighth President of Comoros from 2006 to 2011. He is popularly known as 'Ayatollah'. After easily winning the 14 May 2006 presidential election with 58.02% of the national vote, Sambi was inaugurated as President of the Union of the Comoros on 26 May 2006. It was the first peaceful transfer of power in the history of the Comoros.

Personal life Sambi was born in Mutsamudu, on the island of Anjouan. He is a father of seven children including two named Intisware and Fatoumat. He owns factories which produce mattresses, bottled water and perfume - a key Comorian export. He lives above a shop called The House of Mattresses in Mutsamudu, the capital of Anjouan. He also set up a television station called Ulezi (education).

He is of Hadhrami Sayyid Arab ancestry, belonging to the Ba 'Alawi Sadah of Hadhramaut in Yemen, the tribe is the progeny of Ahmed Al-Muhajir who was great-grandson of Ali Al-Uraydi, a fourth generation descendant of Imam Husayn, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

"The Ayatollah of Comoros" He was educated in Islamic studies in Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Qom, Iran. According to the Tehran-based Tabnak news agency, while Sambi was there he studied under Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi. Despite his Sunni background, Sambi's time in Iran and his penchant for turbans earned him the nickname "The Ayatollah of Comoros".

Corruption charges

In 2018 Sambi was charged for planning the Comoros Passport scheme with Bashar Kiwan netting $200 million dollar from the UAE government.

In August 2018, Comoros authorities charged former president Ahmed Abdullah Sambi and Bachar Kiwan with corruption, embezzlement of public funds and forgery related to the sales of Comoros passports. Sambi was jailed, and in September 2018 appealed to the Supreme Court to be granted unrestricted access to his lawyer to defend himself in the corruption case. Prosecutors sought a life sentence for the former president and his accomplices. On 28 November 2022, Sambi was sentenced to life in prison.

Political views Sambi has been quoted as saying that Comoros was not ready to become an Islamic state, nor would anyone be forced to wear a veil under his presidency. He also promised to fight corruption, create jobs and build better houses for the majority of Comorians living in poverty.