Somali diplomat, former Jigjiga mayor Ali Isse dies in Canada

Career diplomat and former mayor of Jigjiga in Ethiopia Ali Yusuf Isse (Cali Dhadac) has passed away in Canada while undergoing treatment.

Medical sources at Ottawa General Hospital told HOL the deceased diplomat died while undergoing kidney replacement procedure. He had been on the waiting list and had recently received a matching kidney.

Isse served as Somalia’s ambassador to Iran and later moved back to his hometown Jigjiga in Ethiopia’s Somali State following the collapse of government in 1991. He was elected and served as mayor of Jigjiga before his removal by Ethiopian authorities on grounds that ‘he had a Somali flag in his house’.

Members of the Somali community in Ottawa are mourning his death. Until his death, Isse was a resident of Ottawa in Canada.