DUSHANBE -- Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on December 15 appointed his third daughter, Ruhshona Rahmonova, to be the country’s ambassador to Britain.
Several other close relatives of Rahmon, who has nine children, occupy important official positions or control lucrative businesses in Tajikistan -- one of the poorest former Soviet republics in Central Asia.
Rahmon has ruled Tajikistan since 1992. Rights groups and opponents say he tolerates little dissent and suppresses his critics.
In 2016, his daughter Ruhshona, who is in her late 30s, was given a senior position at the Foreign Ministry in Dushanbe following a period of activity at the Tajik Embassy in London.
She is married to businessman Shamsullo Sohibov, who is known for having used the family’s influence to amass a reportedly immense fortune.
Rahmon’s 34-year-old son, Rustam, is the mayor of the capital, Dushanbe, and chairman of the Majlisi Milli, Tajikistan's upper house of parliament.
One of the Tajik leader’s other daughters, Ozoda Rahmon, is his chief of staff, while her husband, Jamoliddin Nuraliev, is the first deputy chairman of the central bank.
Tajik President's Daughter Becomes Ambassador To Britain
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon (file photo)