Once a security guard, Suleiman Yusuf Koore has risen through the ranks to become a government minister in Somaliland. It all began in 1984 when
Radio Hargeisa was housed within the premises of the ministry of information. At the time, Koore lived with his family on the outskirts of Hargeisa and earned $12 a month.
Until recent times, being a security guard in most parts of Africa was seen as a job for the less educated and poor who are desperately in need of a job to survive.
According to Koore, as a security guard in the radio station, he was never allowed into the minister’s office because of his status.
Koore is now the Minister of Information and Communication of Somaliland and he is the most senior person in the same building where he once worked as a watchman.
Although he has been in politics for the last 25 years and has held several portfolios as a minister, in December he started his first term at the information ministry, which he regards as his true home.
“It makes great sense to me that I became a minister at the ministry I worked at during my youthful days as it has a special meaning to my life,” he told the BBC.
Today, Koore’s wages have seen a massive rise as compared to the time he was earning $12 a month.
Ministers in Somaliland reportedly earn $2,000 each month as well as about $705 in allowances.
