Berkley Center

Hon. Abdikadir Hussein Mohamed grew up in a village in northeastern Kenya bordering Ethiopia and Somalia. He studied law at the University of Nairobi, co-founded a law firm and later went to Harvard Law School. In 2007, he stood for elections in his home constituency, representing a small party close to President Kibaki’s party, surprising many by ousting the incumbent, nationally known candidate from Raila Odinga’s party. Hon. Abdikadir joined the Parliamentary Select Committee for Constitutional Review, was elected Chairman and managed to steer the draft constitution through Parliament. By remaining neutral, he found middle ground, including on issues contentious between his fellow Muslims and Christians. This was all the more remarkable, as a previous draft constitution had been rejected in a referendum in 2005 and the post-election violence of 2008 had left the country deeply divided. Hon. Abdikadir is currently chairing the Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee. He is married and has three sons.