Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has attained a PhD in peace studies.
He is now among the few educated presidents to achieve such a fete. Other leaders who have attained PhD are Kenya's William Ruto, Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast, Moeketsi Majoro of Lesotho, and King Mohammed VI of Morocco.
Mohamud was among the 18 PhD. graduands who were passed out last Friday by University for Peace (UPEACE).
The Somali's head of state in August this year, he defended his dissertation.
His thesis was titled, ‘examining the Challenges of Clan Politics in State-building: A Case Study of Somalia’.
In his address after graduation, the Somali president said:
“I sincerely thank the University for Peace for this opportunity, and as the President, I promise to establish a fund to support the education of a hundred Somali PhD students at UPEACE.”
A total of 170 students graduated from the university with both doctoral and master’s degrees.
"Nothing can exist, and prosper without peace. Peace is the central pillar for humanity in terms of development, science, and technology,” President Mohamud said.
The ceremony was presided over by Presiding over by Lalla Ben Barka, a member of the University Council.
“The attainment of a master’s or doctorate from a prestigious global higher education institution such as the University of Peace is an event to be celebrated, especially within Somalia’s context as [the country] often faces obstacles such as conflict, terrorism, and numerous other challenges,” Barka said.
“Changing the world through the weapon of education is about the power of education to bring light rather than destruction,” she continued. “I will refer to the importance of education in the context of Somalia by quoting the former United Nations Secretary-General Koffi Anan, who said that education is peacebuilding by another name,” she said.
