MP Suldaan Said Ahmed has won the Diaspora Glitz Magazine Political Icon of the Year Award for 2021. The award which aims to recognise and celebrate the outstanding political achievements of political figures of African descent witnessed massive votes from the Afro community of Finland.
MP Suldaan Said Ahmed
Photo Credit: Liivia Pallas
Other nominees were Rita Kostama, a two-term Järvenpää City Councillor under the National Coalition Party, Jani Toivola, a writer, actor and director based in Helsinki. He served as an MP from 2011 to 2019. He is the first black member of the Finnish Parliament and Fatim Diarra, the first person of colour to be selected as the Chairperson of the City Council of Helsinki.
Suldaan Said Ahmed aka Black Lion is a second term Helsinki City councillor and activist. He is a social media influencer. He is one of the organizers of the Black Lives Matter movement in Finland. He is the first politician from immigrant background to be elected to the leadership of a Political party in Finland.
MP Suldaan Said Ahmed and Obi-West Utchaychukwu, Publisher, Diaspora Glitz Magazine. Photo Credit: Liivia Pallas
September 2021, he was sworn in as a Member of Parliament, becoming Finland’s first Somali-background MP.
Obi-West Utchaychukwu, the publisher of Diaspora Glitz Magazine in his words said that the award will go a long way in motivating people of similar backgrounds in joining politics in other to change the narratives.
Elated Suldaan Said Ahmed will grace the front cover of the next magazine.
