Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh has confirmed his bid for a sixth term in office, extending a rule that began in 1999.
The 77-year-old accepted his party’s nomination during a congress in the capital, shortly after parliament scrapped the constitutional age limit for presidential candidates.
Guelleh’s decision follows earlier amendments in 2010 that removed the two-term limit, cementing his status among Africa’s longest-serving leaders.
His re-election in the 2026 polls appears all but assured, with his ruling coalition holding a parliamentary majority and his last victory secured with 97 percent of the vote.
Guelleh pledged to “safeguard unity, stability, and development amid global challenges,” portraying himself as a guarantor of continuity in a volatile region.
Djibouti, strategically located on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, hosts key military bases from the United States, France, China, Japan, and Italy, giving it outsized geopolitical weight.
Yet, critics say Guelleh’s longevity has come at the cost of political freedoms, with opposition figures silenced and the press heavily restricted.
Reporters Without Borders ranks Djibouti 168th of 180 countries in its 2025 Press Freedom Index, describing its media as “completely controlled and limited almost exclusively to state outlets.”
Guelleh succeeded independence leader Hassan Gouled Aptidon after two decades as his chief of staff, inheriting a system rooted in loyalty and tight control.
Asked earlier about his political future, Guelleh told The Africa Report he loved his country “too much to embark on an irresponsible adventure.”
Amid rumours about his health, he brushed aside concerns with characteristic ease, conceding he might “lose a few pounds” but insisting that “everything is perfect.”
For Djibouti’s one million citizens, his sixth run signals the endurance of one man’s grip on a nation at the crossroads of continents.