Muse Jama Godad

Suldaan Sheikh Muse Jama Godad is a traditional elder of Somaliland. He participated in the Somaliland independence movement as a non-member of the Somali National Movement (which was the main force behind the revolutionary movement,) and signed the Somaliland Declaration of Independence as one of the representatives of Awdal. Suldaan and Sheikh (Sh.) are his titles.

Biography Muse Jama was born in Borama in Awdal region in 1932. He belongs to the Hebjire sub-clan of the Habar 'Affan clan within the Gadabuursi clan. He spent his childhood in the countryside and received a more advanced religious education in Djibouti from 1949 to 1956. He returned to his homeland in 1956 and was formally installed as Suldaan (clan elder).

From February to March 1991, he played a central role in the peace conference held in Borama. On May 5, a document known as the Somaliland Declaration of Independence was signed, and Muse Jama was among those who signed it.

He subsequently served as a mediator in disputes that arose in various regions. In April 1992, another conference was held in Borama, where he presided over a meeting of all communities in the Awdal region. When Gurti was institutionalized as the House of Elders, he became one of its first members.

Muse Jama died in Djibouti on July 10, 2005.