Hon. Mohamed Yusuf HajI was born in Garissa District in North Eastern province on 23 December 1940. He is the current Ijara Constituency member of Parliament on KANU party ticket. After completing the East Africa Certificate of Education (EACE), he joined the Provincial Administration as a District Officer and rose to the position of Provincial Commissioner between 1970-1997. He first joined Parliament as a nominated Member in 1998 and was later elected Member of Parliament in 2002 on a KANU ticket.

He served as an Assistant Minister in the Office of the President from 1998-2001 and as the Minister of State (Cabinet Affairs) Office of the President in the year 2002. He was appointed the Minister of State for Defence on 8 th January 2008 after 27 th December 2007 general elections.

During his term as a Member of parliament he has served in the following parliamentary Committees:

1998 -Chairperson Departmental Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations

Select Committee on the Review of constitution of Kenya and

Constituency Development fund Committee.

The honorable Minister is married. He has a Diploma from University of Birmingham , UK on management and Finance Control. His professional career includes Administration and management. The Honorable Minister is Muslim. His hobbies include walking, golf, swimming, sport hunting and welfare activities