Somalia lifts curfew in Mogadishu following election of a new President

ESAT News (February 9, 2017)

The two-day curfew imposed in Mogadishu was lifted following the election of a new President Mohamed Abdullahi, also known as Farmajo, by the country’s Federal Parliament on Wednesday.

Garowe online reported that thousands of Mogadishu residents celebrating the election of Farmajo as the 9th President of Somalia took to the streets in the capital, and broke the government curfew last night.

The  businesses and public transportation have returned to normal in Mogadishu on Thursday morning, despite some roads near diplomatic missions and popular hotels remained on lockdown.

In  a brief speech on State media, the president-elect Mohamed Abdullahi, nicknamed Farmajo, Italian for cheese, due to his love for the dairy product, has thanked the people who celebrated his election, and promised to restore peace and nation-wide reconciliation.

On Thursday, the newly sworn-in 329-member Federal MPs elected former Prime Minister Farmajo, a dual US-Somali citizen, as the country’s new President for the next four years.