By Guled Abdi Mahir
The Head of State H.E. Musa Bihi Abdi om Monday attended the state funeral of prominent Somaliland personality Mr. Mohamed Hashi Elmi who had passed on in Saudi Arabia on the previous week. The casket carrying the body of the deceased arrived on an Ethiopian Airline flight at Egal International Airport in the morning of the burial day.
People from all walks of life paid their last homage at Baqiic Cemetery on the northern outskirts of city of Hargeisa.
President Bihi was accompanied by the speaker of the lower house of representatives, several cabinet ministers, MPs, politicians, traditional leaders, eminent personalities, senior government officials from the neighbouring Somali state of Ethiopia and multitude of friends who consoled with the family members and relatives of the deceased.
The compulsory prayer for the departed was held at the graveyards’ compound.
Amongst those who eulogized the late Mohamed Elmi were veteran freedom fighters who recalled the roles they played with the deceased namely Ibrahim Degoweyne, Prof Abdisalaan Yasin and Hassn Jama Ali aka Dayah.
Prominent poet Hassan Ganey and Sultan Hassan Sultan Abdillahi also consoled the next of kin with their message of condolences.
The Speaker Hon. Prof Yasin Mohamoud Faratoon, the ministers of interior, information, religion and endowment and that of planning, and Ibrahim Adan Dolaal from the neighbouring country of Ethiopia concurred in their eulogies hence described the deceased as a pragmatic leader who strived for perfection and the betterment of the people of the nation and left a legacy to be emulated by the youth.
Most of the mourners eulogized that the former finance minister was a true son of the soil who never shied and spoke his mind without fear or favour.
President Bihi mourned with the bereaved families of the late minister and prayed to the Almighty All Powerful Allah to bless him with the highest abode paradise of Fardowsa.
He prayed for the families of the late Mohamed Hashi Elmi to have patience and faith at this trying juncture of their lives.