| Mohamed Nur محمد نور |
|
|---|---|
| Mayor of Mogadishu | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2010 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Somalia |
| Alma mater | University of Westminster |
| Religion | Islam |
Mohamed Nur (Somali: Maxamed Nuur, Arabic: محمد نور) is a Somali politician. He is the current Mayor of Mogadishu, a position to which he was appointed in 2010.
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Nur was raised in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. He is married to Shamis, with whom he has six children.[1][2]
When the Somali Civil War broke out in the early 1990s, he and his family emigrated to London in 1993. The family initially stayed in Hackney, later relocating to the Queen's Crescent neighborhood, where they are still based.[2]
Nur subsequently pursued higher education studies, graduating from the University of Westminster.[2]
In an administrative capacity, Nur worked as a business advisor to the Islington Council in London.[1]
In 2006, he unsuccessfully campaigned for a seat as a Labour Party councillor in Fortune Green.[2]
Nur also established and ran the Kentish Town Somali Welfare Association, the first such Somali community organization in Kentish Town. Based in the Queen's Crescent Community Centre, it offers support and direction to new immigrants.[2]
In 2010, through his involvement with a Somali political organization in the diaspora, Nur was appointed Mogadishu's new Mayor.[1] He took on the task believing he could affect positive change by "altering the mindset of the people" in the battle-scarred city.[3]
Since taking office, Nur's administration has enacted a number of reforms in a bid to improve the city's security and service delivery, including starting a garbage collection program, erecting proper streetlights and providing around-the-clock electricity, sacking corrupt public officials, and offering formal police protection. The municipal government has also firmed up on traffic safety, fining motorists who drive without lights, in the wrong street lanes or carrying excessive loads.[1]
Among his more ambitious projects, Nur also organized a street festival celebrating local culture. It represented the first event of its ilk held in many years in the city, but was vulnerable to attack by Al Shabaab insurgents.[3]
Following the ouster of the Islamist rebels from Mogadishu in mid-2011, life in the city has gradually begun to return to normal. Nur's administration has also started large-scale rehabilitation of roads and general infrastructure, with residents closely cooperating with the civil and police authorities to tighten up on security.[4]