Yusuf Haji was born on December 23, 1940, in Garissa District, North Eastern Province, which was at the time called the Northern Frontier District.
In 1954-1958, he acquired his KAPE British T. College Secondary Certificate. In 1970-1971 he studied an Advanced Public Administration Course at the Kenya Institute of Administration. He enrolled at the same institution for a Senior Management Course 1982.
In 1981-1983 Haji studied for a Diploma in Management and Finance Control from the University of Birmingham.
Yusuf Haji began his professional career as an administrator in 1960 when he was employed as a District Officer and grew through the ranks to become a Provincial Commissioner. He served as PC between 1970 and 1997.
In 1998, he was nominated to parliament on a KANU ticket and went on to serve as an Assistant Minister in the Office of the President from 1998-2001. In 2002, he was appointed acting Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs.
Later that year, he was elected MP for Ijara Constituency on a KANU ticket until 2007 when he successfully defended his seat, and was appointed Minister of State for Defense in 2008 until 2013.
In 2012, however, he acted as Minister of Internal Security and Provincial Affairs following the death of prof. George Saitoti.
In 2013, he became the first Senator of Garissa County, a position he successfully defended in 2017 on a Jubilee ticket.
In the final years of his life he was appointed the chairperson of Kenya’s Building Bridges Initiative Taskforce. Unfortunately, he did not live to see the report fully implemented.