Djibouti's incumbent President Ismail Omar Guelleh casts his vote at the City Hall polling station during the presidential election in Mouloud, Djibouti, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Guirreh Moumin)

2026-04-11T06:35:30Z

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh was reelected for a sixth term after official results showed him winning 97.81% of the vote in Friday’s election.

Guelleh, 78, has ruled the small Horn of Africa nation of about 1 million for more than two decades. Last year, the country’s lawmakers scrapped presidential age limits.

Election officials said the vote was peaceful. At the presidential palace, supporters on Saturday celebrated and offered congratulations.

Guelleh faced a single challenger, Mohamed Farah Samatar, a former ruling party member, in a race analysts say offered little genuine competition. Opposition groups frequently boycott elections, citing restrictions on political freedoms.

Guelleh succeeded his uncle, former President Hassan Gouled Aptidon, in 1999, extending a family-led system that has shaped the country’s politics for decades.

Djibouti hosts multiple foreign military bases, including those of the U.S., China, France and Japan, underscoring its strategic importance along a key global shipping route linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Revenues from these arrangements, along with port services for neighboring Ethiopia, underpin the economy.