Nur Hassan Hussein Adde was the Prime Minister of Somalia from November 2007 to February 2009. He is from the Celi Cumar Abgaal sub-clan of the Hawiye in Mogadishu.
In 1958, he began his professional career as a customs officer, two years before Somalia’s independence. He rose to the rank of Interpol liaison officer and later, Somalia’s chief police officer in charge of planning and training under the former President Siad Barre.
Nur Adde became Attorney General after his studies in Law at the Somalia National University and the Fiscal Law School in Rome. He held the position until the Somali Civil War broke out in 1991. Later, he served as the Secretary-General of the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS).
In 2007, former President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed nominated Hussein as Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government. His appointment garnered a landslide approval vote in the Transitional Federal Parliament and he was sworn in immediately after.
He oversaw an all-inclusive government; prioritising the constitution in all his decisions. When the size of his largely inclusive cabinet was criticised, he cited that he was only adhering to the “4.5” formula or quota required by the 2004 Transitional Federal Charter. The charter provides for the division of posts between four main clans and a grouping of smaller clans. However, he subsequently replaced his large cabinet with a “smaller, more effective administration”.
Prime Minister Adde was renowned for his continued strive for peace and unity amongst the Somali nation. His most notable work was the peacekeeping truce which was signed in Djibouti in June 2008.
Importantly, Nur Adde was as peace-loving as he was just. In 2008, he dismissed the Mayor of Mogadishu, Mohamed Omar Habeb Dhere. The mayor was accused of incompetence, embezzlement, insubordination, and abuse of power. Although Somali’s political cabals stirred up unrest about the dismissal by resigning from parliament, Nur Adde stood by his decision. Soon, they also criticized him for failing to present a budget to parliament. In turn, Nur Adde accused the resigning ministers of trying “to create political instability in the country and disrupt the implementation of the Djibouti agreement between the Somali Transitional Government and the opposition”. Yet, he assured the people that the government was still functioning properly.
Concurrently, as moves were made in the parliament to impeach him, Nur Adde expressed his readiness to resign if parliament dissolved the government or if his resignation would benefit the peace process. To this effect, a vote of confidence was held against Hussein’s government; the vote was overwhelmingly defeated. In December, President Yusuf announced his decision to dismiss Nur Adde and his government. In response, Hussein asserted that the President lacked the power to do so without parliamentary approval. On the other hand, Yusuf believed Parliament would endorse the dismissal; nevertheless, parliament supported Nur Adde. Despite this, Yusuf appointed Mohamoud Mohamed Gacmodhere as Prime Minister to replace Nur Adde but the former resigned 8 days later.
In 2009, Nur Adde was the parliamentary candidate for the Presidency. After placing third in the first round, he withdrew his candidacy. Sharif Ahmed won the election and then appointed Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke to replace Nur Adde as Prime Minister on February 13.[25]
In June 2009, Nur Adde was appointed as Somalia’s ambassador to Italy. After a fulfilling political career, he passed away from COVID-19 in London.
