Djibouti City – Djibouti’s President Ismael Omar Guelleh has won re-election with 97.8% of the vote, securing a sixth term that extends his 27-year rule over the small but strategically located East African nation, state-owned Radio Television Djibouti reported on Saturday.
The 78-year-old leader, who has governed Djibouti since 1999 when he was handpicked to succeed his uncle Hassan Gouled Aptidon, posted an image of himself with the French word “RÉÉLU” on X, meaning re-elected.
Guelleh faced only one opposition candidate in Friday’s vote, Mohamed Farah Samatar, from a small party with no representation in parliament. Two of the main opposition parties have boycotted elections since 2016, accusing election authorities of lacking impartiality. State media reported a voter turnout of 80.4%. In the last election held in 2021, Guelleh also won with over 97% of the vote. 
Victory for Guelleh, whose party dominates national institutions, was never seriously in doubt. Last October, parliament voted to remove the 75-year age limit for presidential candidates and scrapped a referendum that had previously been required to approve a new constitution, effectively clearing the path for his continued rule.
Djibouti, a country of less than one million people, sits on the Gulf of Aden at the entrance to the Red Sea and hosts military bases belonging to the United States, China, France, Italy and Japan. Since 2023, several commercial ships damaged in attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants have docked in the country, further cementing its strategic importance on the global stage.
Unlike several other Horn of Africa nations, Djibouti has remained relatively stable in recent years. Guelleh’s government has invested heavily in port infrastructure, positioning the country as the main gateway to landlocked Ethiopia.
Human rights groups, however, accuse Djiboutian authorities of repressing political opponents, activists and journalists. The government has denied allegations of widespread abuses and rejected criticism of the electoral process. In 2020, security forces quelled rare anti-government street protests that erupted following the arrest of a former air force pilot who had denounced alleged corruption and clan-based discrimination.
