Somali Beefs Up Security For Presidential Inauguration

Security has been beefed up in the Somali capital and around the Aden Adde Airport, ahead of Thursday’s inauguration of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

Overnight the city was put under a curfew, and main roads in Mogadishu were closed.

Police officers were deployed in large numbers and armoured vehicles on the streets leading to the presidential palace.

The leaders of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti are set to attend the inauguration ceremony.

Djibouti’s leader Ismail Omar Guelleh and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta whose government’s relations with Somalia reached a record low point during the reign of outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo are now hoping to reset ties with the new Somali administration.

After the inauguration, the new president is expected to name a prime minister who will form a new government.

BBC/Christopher Ojilere