Ali Soilih

Ali Soilih (1937–1978) led the Comoros through a brief socialist revolutionary period after independence from France. His government legalised cannabis as part of reforms challenging established religious and traditional authority. The policy made his rule an unusual episode in cannabis history, but it belonged to a government that also restricted freedoms and used coercion.

The photograph reproduced by Le Mohelien is identified there as Mayotte, 1975. It shows Soilih at outdoor microphones beside uniformed men and other attendees. It documents the political leader; its caption does not identify a cannabis-related gathering or the announcement of legalisation.

From independence to revolution

The Comoros declared independence in July 1975. Soilih participated in the August coup against the first president, Ahmed Abdallah, with assistance from the French mercenary Bob Denard. He became head of state in January 1976.

Originally an agronomist, Soilih sought a radical transformation of administration and society. The Library of Congress country study describes decentralised local centres, a secular state and a campaign against inherited hierarchies. He advocated limits on the privileges of religious jurists, bringing established sources of authority into conflict with the revolutionary state.

Cannabis among the social reforms

His programme gave young people greater political responsibilities and lowered the voting age to fourteen. Women’s emancipation was another stated aim, including challenging the veil and involving young women in revolutionary organisations.

Policy	Place in the programme
Cannabis	Brief legalisation, associated in biographical accounts with appealing to the young
Youth	A lower voting age and positions of responsibility
Women	Challenges to established dress and social expectations
Custom	Restrictions on the costly anda, or grand marriage, and traditional funeral ceremonies

Legalisation was one element of this wider political project. The exact cannabis decree and its enactment date have not been established by the sources retained here; the timeline places the episode in the 1975–1978 revolutionary period.

Reform through coercion

Youth participation also took a coercive form through the Moissy revolutionary militia. The country study describes violent attacks on elders, political opponents and mosques. Imposing changes to customary ceremonies and religious authority could mean restricting the choices of those who resisted the revolution.

Contemporary Amnesty International reporting records political detentions under Soilih, including prisoners held since April 1976 and further arrests in 1977–1978. Cannabis liberalisation and authoritarian government existed together; the former does not establish that his administration protected civil liberties generally.

Overthrow, death and renewed prohibition

Mercenaries led by Denard overthrew Soilih in May 1978. He was killed on 29 May. The official claim that he had tried to escape from house arrest should be identified as the government’s explanation, rather than an independently established account of his death.

The succeeding government reversed his decrees and restored cannabis prohibition. Amnesty also reported arrests of about 150 supporters of the former revolution after the coup and warned against political revenge.

For the Comoros today, the relevant legislation extends beyond the 1995 code. The replacement code promulgated in 2021 provides ten to fifteen years for unlawful holding, acquisition or use of narcotics under Article 208, and ten to twenty years for illicit production under Article 206. Soilih’s permissive cannabis policy survived only within his short-lived political experiment.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}