Djibouti (AX) — The rumors about Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh being gravely ill are just that, rumors. Minister of Economy and Finance, Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, swiftly shut down the gossip following the president’s hospital visit on Saturday.
Jumping on X (formerly Twitter), Dawaleh reassured the public by saying, “President Guelleh is in fine fettle. Yes, he’s got a bum right knee, but that’s it.” He didn’t hold back, condemning the rumor mill, highlighting the absurdity of such fabrications.
“Sorry haters, President Ismail is doing well, and very well, in fact. One can dislike a leader without falling into hatred and slander, even going so far as to wish death upon another Muslim. Yes, he has an issue with his right knee, so what? He is, first and foremost, a human being like you and me. Shame on the prophets of doom,” Dawaleh wrote.
The online speculation had spun a yarn about the president being whisked off to Paris for urgent medical care, suggesting internet blackouts in Djibouti were to keep the news under wraps.
Lending some credence to the buzz, President Guelleh, at the helm since 1999, wasn’t spotted at the General Debate of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, a meet-up attended by numerous African heads of state.
Edited by: Ali Musa
Axadle international–Monitoring
