Deputy Speaker Bashir Ismail judged Hussen the first bold Somali prime minister

Evidence

The passage of the civil service reform bills marked a major milestone in the effort to institutionalize professionalism in government work, but it was neither an easy task nor a finished product. Nevertheless, it signaled that a leadership with a different vision for the country was at work. … [Hussen] is a tough man; many deputies believe he has been excessive in his zeal for reform, though not quarreling with his objectives. Many dismissed civil servants have been calumnied by insinuation of (unproved though likely) graft and disloyalty. Nevertheless the Assembly respects and praises [Hussen’s] courage. He is the first prime minister to have had any. Having set a new standard for the quality of those in public service and taking the first steps in shifting the terms of engagement, Hussen and his team began to focus on the more arduous and mundane work of enforcing the laws and inducing a culture of accountability in state affairs. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 821