Djibouti Constitutional Council Confirms Sixth Term Victory for President Guelleh

DJIBOUTI CITY, April 22 — Djibouti’s Constitutional Council on Tuesday officially confirmed that President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh has won a sixth consecutive term in office, securing 97.01% of the vote in the presidential election.

Guelleh, 78, has led the strategically located Horn of Africa nation since 1999.

Preliminary results released shortly after the April 10 vote had already indicated a landslide win for the incumbent, showing him with 97.81% of ballots cast against a single challenger.

The official Djibouti News Agency, citing the Constitutional Council, said Guelleh received a total of 204,874 votes.

His sole challenger, Mohamed Farah Samatar, obtained 6,318 votes, representing 2.99% of the total.

Djibouti sits along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and carrying a large share of global trade between Asia and Western countries.

With a population of just over one million people, Djibouti has leveraged its strategic location to become a major international military and logistics hub, hosting several foreign military bases and serving as a key transit point for global shipping routes.

GAROWE ONLINE