Fadumo Saeed Ibrahim

Fadumo Saeed Ibrahim , also known as Marwo Fadumo, is a Somaliland politician and activist. She has served in senior leadership and advisory roles across major political parties and institutions in Somaliland. Her career includes serving as the chairperson of the Organization for Development and Humanitarian Affairs (ODHA), the Secretary of Finance for the Justice and Welfare Party (UCID), and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the Waddani party. She later served as a senior foreign affairs advisor to the House of Elders (Guurti), becoming the first woman to manage foreign policy for the parliamentary chamber.

Biography Early life and education In 1961, Fadumo was born in the rural area of Oodweyne. Her mother is Cadar Abdillahi Abdi and her father lived in the United Kingdom at the time. Her mother normally lived in Berbera but had traveled to the Oodweyne District for health reasons before Fadumo's birth. Fadumo was the oldest of five children and had two brothers and two sisters.

Around 1963 or 1964, Fadumo moved to the Newport, Wales of the United Kingdom with her parents. Growing up in Wales during the 1960s, Fadumo lived within a very small Somali diaspora. At the time, the local Somali population primarily consisted of merchant seamen, with only a few established families, including her own, residing in the area.

Waddani party In December 2014, Fadumo officially joined the Waddani opposition political party after resigning from her position as the Secretary of Finance for the UCID political party. Upon her return to Hargeisa from a two-month overseas trip to Turkey and Kuwait, she publicly criticized the government's foreign policy and spoke out against the detention of journalists in Somaliland.

In May 2015, Fadumo attended a political event in London organized by the UK women's wing of the Waddani opposition political party. Following her stay in the United Kingdom, she traveled to North America to participate in events celebrating Somaliland's Independence Day on May 18 with the Somaliland diaspora community.

In May 2017, Fadumo attended a political event in Hargeisa to welcome a group of female supporters from the Sahil region who left the ruling Kulmiye party to join the Waddani opposition political party. During her speech, she emphasized that voters needed to support Waddani to protect the economic future of their children and criticized the government's management of Berbera.

In August 2017, Fadumo was appointed to a newly established political committee within the Waddani opposition political party. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro), the party chairman and presidential candidate, selected her as a member of the Committee on Policy and Foreign Affairs. This committee was one of nine groups created to organize the party's campaigns for the upcoming national election.

In January 2018, Fadumo reported that the district commissioner of Ibrahim Koodbuur in Hargeisa had threatened her with arrest. She stated that the district administration had improperly handled issues related to her house. The district commissioner publicly denied her allegations.

In August 2018, Fadumo served as the Secretary of Human Rights for the Waddani opposition political party. During a political debate in Hargeisa, she spoke about the challenges of the democratic system in Somaliland. She argued that the current electoral system requires too much money, which forces candidates to either be very wealthy or rely on their clans for financial support.

In October 2019, Fadumo resigned from her position as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the Waddani opposition political party and left the party completely. She stated that the party had failed to fulfill its role as an effective opposition and cited internal conflicts with other party officials regarding the selection of the party's general secretary.

Special Adviser for the House of Elders Following her resignation from the Waddani party in late 2019, Fadumo maintained an independent political stance.

She advocated for women's political participation and called for unified networks to support female candidates across party lines ahead of the 2021 elections. She emphasized that women and youth should cooperate as a cohesive unit for the country's development.

In November 2022, Fadumo faced organized harassment and criticism on social media. The attacks began after she made a public speech about national identity. In her speech, she argued that citizens of Somaliland should be called Somalilanders rather than Somalis to highlight the clear distinction between Somaliland and Somalia.