Somalia locks down its capital ahead of president’s inauguration 

The president’s inauguration will take place at the Afisioni hangar in the airport facility under tight security with all flights to and from Mogadishu expected to be halted until Friday, according to the sources.

News Keydmedia Online
8 June 2022

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Long-chaotic Somalia’s capital Mogadishu is placed under lockdown ahead of the inauguration of the new president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Thursday, June 9.

In a pre-recorded video aired by the state-run SNTV, Somali PM Mohamed Hussein Roble announced that residents will be under a 19-hour curfew as a security measure to avert Al-Shabaab terror attacks.

Roble who is the caretaker prime minister said the ban on pedestrian and vehicle traffic in Mogadishu takes effect on Wednesday night at 10 p.m. and will last until 5 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.

The inaugural event will see the participation of leaders from East Africa and beyond the continent, including Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Djibouti counterpart Ismail Omar Guelleh.

South Sudan sent vice president Taban Deng Gai while Uganda dispatched its defense minister Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja who is in Mogadishu. The Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed is set to join the leaders.

The president’s inauguration will take place at the Afisioni hangar in the airport facility under tight security with all flights to and from Mogadishu expected to be halted until Friday, according to the sources.

Al-Shabaab has mounted several attacks during the election. Last month, the Al-Qaeda-linked group stormed an African Union base in the Middle Shabelle region, killing at least 30 Burundian soldiers.

KEYDMEDIA English