Abadir Waaberi Shermake Barre Birthday: July 14, 1948
Education: Zilepò State College, degree in Comparative Theology
Political affiliation: Justice and Development Party
Positions held: Chairman of Justice Development Party and Minister of National Convergence and Ethnicities
Biography: Abadir Waaberi Shermake Barre, known simply as Abadir Barre, was born in 1948, in a small town in southeastern Djabidjan. He attended a Catholic school, before enrolling in a religious seminary in Nwapase.
Barre was involved in Catholic youth organizations, and was arrested several times during the Social Republic of Djabidjan. In the early 1980s, he was a member of the Christian Conservative Alliance. He enrolled the Zilepò State College, and was involved in teaching after graduating in Comparative Theology.
However, in 1984, he founded the Justice and Development Party (also known as MCIH), a right-leaning political party, strongly associated to the Maadaan minority. Before MCIH joined the Djabidjani People's Coalition in 1988, Barre was involved in the local politics in Nwapase, where he was elected several times.
He was elected to the national parliament in 1996, as candidate of the ruling Djabidjani People's Coalition. He would be reelected in 2000 election. Although he was defeated in the 2004 by an opposition candidate, he would be elected again in the 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2021 elections.
He has served as Minister of Religious and Community Relations, from 1997 to 2004, Deputy Minister of Education and Culture (2004-2008), and Minister of Agriculure, Water Resources, and Environment, from 2008 to 2016. He has also served as Chairman of the Ethnic Affairs Council from 2016 to 2021. He was appointed Minister of National Convergence and Ethnicities in 2021, becoming the oldest minister in the current administration and the only ethnic Maadaan in the government.
Barre played a role in the negotiations between the radical Christian Action Front and the Djabidjani government in the early 2000s. However, Barre has supported the Djabidani government position that the Christian Action Front successor organization, the Faithful Movement, remains banned as a terrorist organization.
Abadir Barre is a Catholic and remains considered the most prominent ethnic Maadaan in the Djabijdani government and ruling coalition. Recently, Iskaabin Aamin-ah, an armed group established by former members of the Dhaar Party and considered a terrorist organization, has described Barre as a "collaborator in the oppression of the Maadaan people" and demanded his resignation and ostracism from the community.
Barre is married and has six children eighteen grandchildren.