Former Somali finance minister Hussein Abdi Halane has announced his candidacy for the upcoming Somali presidential elections scheduled in February next year with a life and justice party ticket.
He served under the current President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo as finance minister when Farmajo was Prime Minister from November 2010 to June 2011.
In December 2013, Halane alongside former Transportation Minister Abdiwahid Elmi Gonjeh was reportedly among the leading candidates for Prime Minister of Somalia but the position eventually went to economist Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed.
His Mr. Halane announcement comes a day after former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire also declared his bid to challenge the incumbent in the upcoming presidential polls next year.
Khaire who was ousted via a vote of no confidence by the parliament in July said he has the experience and straightforward agenda to run the horn of the African country out of the security and economic challenges if elected.
