Abdirazak Hussen was the lone parliamentarian voting against Egal’s 1967 government

Evidence

There is a difference between Osman’s record of the vote and Hussen’s count. Osman noted in his diary in August 1967 that two people voted against Egal’s government, while Hussen points out that he was the lone voice of opposition. Here is how he recounted the event. “Sh. Ali Jimaleh came to me before the vote and asked to vote yes to demonstrate that Somalis were unanimous. I told him that I had serious reservation about the program and that I will vote my conscience. When the vote was called I stood alone and declared that Allah is waaxid and I am waaxid [Allah is one, and I am alone]. On that night I attended a reception in the German Embassy in which Egal was present. The German Ambassador gave me a hearty handshake and said my vote was a dignified one.” Abdirazak H. Hussen, interview by the author, Minneapolis, September 2002. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1480

There is a difference between Osman’s record of the vote and Hussen’s count. Osman noted in his diary in August 1967 that two people voted against Egal’s government, while Hussen points out that he was the lone voice of opposition. Here is how he recounted the event. “Sh. Ali Jimaleh came to me before the vote and asked to vote yes to demonstrate that Somalis were unanimous. I told him that I had serious reservation about the program and that I will vote my conscience. When the vote was called I stood alone and declared that Allah is waaxid and I am waaxid [Allah is one, and I am alone]. On that night I attended a reception in the German Embassy in which Egal was present. The German Ambassador gave me a hearty handshake and said my vote was a dignified one.” — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1480

Categorization

• SHARE: Abdirazak’s dramatic single dissenting vote — ‘Allah is one, and I am alone’ — is a striking vignette of principled opposition worth sharing with anyone interested in Somali political history.
• QUESTION: Osman’s diary recorded two no votes while Hussen insisted he was the lone dissenter — a discrepancy worth chasing in the archive.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader narrative of Aden Osman’s and Abdirazak Hussen’s fall from power and Egal’s takeover.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1480