Messaoud Ould Boulkheir
| Messaoud Ould Boulkheir | |
|---|---|
| مسعود ولد بو الخير | |
| President of the National Assembly | |
|
Assumed office 27 April 2007 |
|
| Preceded by | Rachid Ould Saleh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1943 (age 73–74) Fara El Kitane, Mauritania, French West Africa |
| Citizenship | Mauritania |
| Political party | People's Progressive Alliance |
Messaoud Ould Boulkheir (Arabic: مسعود ولد بو الخير, born 1943, Fara El Kitane Arabic: فرع الكتان) is among the first Haratine to become a political leader in Mauritania. Messaoud also contributed significantly to the end of the 1989 events in Mauritania, protecting the right of the victims and the emancipation of the Haratine in Mauritania with his party.
Presently, Boulkheir is President of the People's Progressive Alliance, and he has been President of the National Assembly of Mauritania since April 2007.
Messaoud Ould Boulkheir was born around 1943; the date is unclear because at that time the birth registration service was unknown. Messaoud’s parents were slaves, but were living independently because they were not directly dependent on their masters. Like most Haratine at that time, his family was subsisted on agriculture, cattle farm and picking fruits. His father also hunted.
Messaoud family was not as large as like other Haratine families. It was composed of his father, mother, elder sister and three brothers of whom Messaoud was the second. Messaoud also lived with his two grandmothers, one maternal uncle who was older than his mother and one paternal aunt who was younger than his father. The Messaoud Family lived under a black tent with some domestic animals (sheep and goats). The family of Messaoud ould Boulkheir could be considered rebellious, since they were not submissive as other Haratine were to their master. The masters of Messaoud’s family were called “Ahel Taleb Ethmane community”.
Messaoud’s mother had taken care of the family until the older sister of her master got married by the Chief of the Ahel Taleb Community. Messaoud’s mother thought that the queen of the community would help her. In contrast to what she thought, the queen of the community was jealous of her and was helping her cousins who ignored her when her family was in a difficult situation. One night, the queen of the community sent her cousin to the Messaoud ould Boulkheir family tent to destroy it and to beat her mother. The queen’s cousins had burned the Messaoud ould Boulkheir tent, destroying everything, took her jewelries and beat Messaoud’s mother until thinking that she was dead. They left the place with a lot of blood and fire. After surviving this event, Messaoud’s mother went directly with her dress covered with blood, to the French colonial administration in Nema to complain. Generally, the colonial administration does not take any part of the problems of the slaves with their masters. After the colonial administrator saw her covered with blood and harmed, they decided to help her. The colonial administration asked for the restitution and reimbursement of all of the things the masters had destroyed and taken and to freed Messaoud’s mother and her family. They suggested that Messaoud’s mother to stay in the city of Nema to avoid this kind of attack. But she refused because she wanted to live in her community and to be respected there. The Messaoud family became the first Haratine family in Mauritania to become free and to live equally in the same community as their ancient masters the Beydhan. Messaoud’s mother died in October 1953.
...
Wikipedia