Mogadishu on lockdown for presidential inauguration

Roads and businesses close amid looming security threat from al-Shabaab militants, who have vowed to wage war on Somalia's new government.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

22 February, 2017

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed will be sworn in at Mogadishu's high-security airport [AFP]

Somalia's capital Mogadishu went under security lockdown on Wednesday, ahead of the inauguration of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.

Roads were closed and commercial flights cancelled as part of the security precautions.

"All major roads and streets inside and outside the capital were closed down last night, movement is restricted and only the vehicles of government officials are allowed to move," police official Ibrahim Mohamed told AFP.

"This is for security purposes and all commercial flights are cancelled today so that only aircrafts carrying the delegation are allowed."

Mohamed, widely known by his nickname Farmajo, will be sworn-in at a ceremony held in the capital's high security airport in order to avoid attacks by the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group.

The militants, who killed 20 people with a car bomb in Mogadishu on Sunday, have vowed to wage a "vicious war" on Farmajo's new government.

The new president has offered a $100,000 reward for information on the attack's perpetrators.

Schools and businesses were also closed in a similar lockdown to one seen two weeks ago when lawmakers gathered in an airport hangar to elect Farmajo.

Regional leaders are expected to attend the ceremony, with Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, as well as delegations from Kuwait and Egypt having already arrived on Wednesday.

The new president has already taken office after a handover ceremony that took place last week. The ceremony was marred by an attack by Shabaab, who killed two children by firing mortar shells at a nearby school.

Farmajo, who served briefly as prime minister in 2010-11, is fondly hailed by his supporters as a no-nonsense politician dedicated to improving governance and tackling corruption.

He will take leadership of a country that has been wrought by conflict and instability since the collapse of Siad Barre's military regime in 1991.