Somalia’s newly elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Monday assumed the office of the country’s presidency a week after he was elected by the Horn of Africa country’s both houses of parliament. In a ceremony at the country’s presidential palace in the capital Mogadishu, former President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo handed over the power to Sheikh Mohamud.
“I will consult with President Farmajo wherever he is,” the new president announced in a joint address at the ceremony.
In his speech, the former president confirmed that 5,000 Somali soldiers are in Eritrea who have completed their training and are waiting to return to their country.
“It is a good step forward for our country. We are seeing here a peaceful transfer of power today,” Ali Ibrahim, a Mogadishu resident, told Anadolu Agency after the ceremony. Somalia has witnessed more than a year and a half of political tiffs over the delayed elections that polarized the country’s citizens.—AFP
