Somalia elected Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo as new president, February 8, 2017. This follows a battle that saw 23 candidates take part in an election which had been delayed four times.
The former Prime Minister beat his closest challenger and incumbent Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in the second round of voting.
Although he did not gain the required two thirds of the 327 cast, Mohamud accepted defeat, making third round irrelevant, reports the Daily Nation.The polls were conducted at Mogadishu's main airport and was heavily guarded by the African Union Mission on Somalia Forces.
Former presidents, senior politicians and former envoys joined the race that would see the 328 Members of Parliament of the Federal Parliament, elect the new leader.Farmajo, 55, is a former diplomat who served in the Somali Embassy in Washington DC before successfully applying for asylum, when the government of Siad Barre collapsed in 1991.Somalia has changed presidents twleve times since 1960, including three acting presidents. It has had two coups and one assassination.
Farmajo’s election extends Somalia’s long-held tradition of never re-electing an incumbent.