Somalia is officially presided since Monday by a new Head of State. Mohamed Farmajo handed over power to Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, elected on May 15, 2022, in a brief, solemn and peaceful ceremony.
The protocol at Villa Somalia did everything right for this highly anticipated handover of power: red carpets, the presidential band in red uniform, the red berets of the guard, and blue flags, the color of the national flag, even on the soldiers’ bulletproof vests.
Side by side, each in front of a blue lectern, President-elect Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud and his predecessor both made brief speeches. The new head of state was friendly, saying that the outgoing president had given him many files which he had gone through “quickly. He added that he would look at them “slowly” and call on his “brother” Farmajo if necessary.
As for Farmajo, he took advantage of his departure to make a major announcement: after months of denial, he confirmed that Somalia had indeed sent 5,000 soldiers to train in Eritrea and then to fight in Tigray, Ethiopia. And that these soldiers would be repatriated soon. A repatriation that he said was impossible before the transfer of power, so as not to disrupt, according to him, the electoral process.