Issa later relocated to the port of Merca at the age of sixteen, where he would work as a postal clerk from 1939 to 1941. He thereafter returned to Mogadishu and assumed a position in the Department of Economic Affairs.
Issa moved from his previous location to Merca at age sixteen, where he worked as a postal clerk for four years (from 1939 to 1941). He then returned to Mogadishu and took on a position in the Department of Economic Affairs.