Newly-appointed mayor of Dushanbe, Rustam Emomali, has begun shaking up Dushanbe administration officials.

An official source at the Dushanbe administration says Emomali has replaced the head the Dushanbe TV channel Poytakht.

Suhrob Raufov, who had previously headed the Tajik national TV channel Tojikiston (Tajikistan), has reportedly been appointed to head the Dushanbe TV channel Poytakht, replacing Shavkat Saidov, who had served as director of Poytakht since 2015.

Prior to being appointed director of the TV channel Poytakht, Shavkat Saidov had been a spokesman for Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev for several years.   

Recall, the 29-year old son of Tajikistan’s president was appointed as mayor of the capital city on January 12, replacing Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev, who had run Dushanbe for 19 years.

Rustam Emomali was born on December 19, 1987.  At a mere 23 years of age, he has served as a member of Dushanbe’s local council (Majlis), as deputy chairman of the Youth Union of Tajikistan, as vice-president of Tajikistan’s Football Association, and as the head of the Small and Medium-Sized Business Support Agency at the State Committee for Investments and State-owned Property Management.

In late February 2011, Rustam Emomali was appointed to head the Customs Service’s smuggling-busting department.  Afterwards he was appointed deputy head of the Customs Service.

On November 30, 2013, Rustam Emomali was appointed to head the Customs Service under the Government of Tajikistan

In 2015, he was appointed to head the anti-corruption agency since 2015. 

Despite his youth, Rustam Emomali already holds the rank of general.

He is one of founders and owners of Tajikistan’s Istiqlol Club.  In the recent past, he played soccer for this club.

Rustam Emomali is married with three children.