Hassan Sheikh Mohamud gets second term as Somalia President

Former Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has bounced back, five years after being voted out of the top seat.

Mr Mohamud reoccupied Villa Somalia on Sunday after trouncing incumbent President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known as Farmajo, in the third and final round of voting by 328 MPs and senators.

After a marathon poll involving 36 candidates that was broadcast live on state TV, parliamentary officials counted 214 votes in favour of former president Mohamud, far more than the number required to defeat Farmajo.

He was immediately sworn by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Bashe Yusuf Ahmed.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in the capital Mogadishu, with many hoping that the vote will draw a line under a political crisis that has lasted well over a year, after Farmajo's term ended in February 2021 without an election.

The lawmakers, chosen by delegates chosen by clan leaders, cast their ballots in a fortified airport hangar in the city in a vote that has been delayed by infighting and insecurity for over a year.

"Hassan Sheik Mohamud is the winner of the election for the president of the Somali Federal republic," said the speaker of the lower house, Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur, better known as Sheikh Adan Madobe. He was previously president from 2012-2017.

Explosion

In a reminder of the country's treacherous security situation, explosions were heard Sunday near Mogadishu's heavily guarded airport complex where MPs were voting. Police said no casualties were reported in the blasts.

It had been hoped that the president would be elected directly by Somalia voters for the first time in 50 years but the plan was dropped by the country's political elite.

The poll came 15 months late to the original schedule of February 8, 2021 but was a positive move, nonetheless, according to the country’s international partners who see it as a way to create the much-needed legitimacy to rebuild the country from years of insecurity.

The plan for universal suffrage fell through as security, legal and financial realities kicked in ahead of elections.

Somalia needed a constitution to give legal framework for constituencies and voting. That wasn’t achieved.

Instead, officials fell back on indirect elections where elected legislators in the Upper and Lower House sit jointly to elect a president by secret ballot. The Upper House has 54 senators while the Lower House has 275 MPs.

These legislators were elected through specially selected delegates in each of the five federal states, based on a delicate clan balancing act.

The election attracted the biggest number of contenders in Somalia’s history.  According to a list publicised by the Somalia Parliamentary Taskforce on Presidential Elections, 39 candidates entered the race— with only one woman— but only 36 participated.

$40,000 Fees

Each of these candidates paid $40,000 fees to enrol and none of them struggled to raise the cash, signaling both intent and wealth of the contenders.

Critics have charged the cost of contesting automatically locked out qualified candidates but organisers argued it was  cheaper than 2017 when it cost $50,000 to enter the race.

Under Somalia election rules, a candidate can win outright election if he garners 75 per cent of the vote in round one.

It has never happened in Somalia and elections routinely go to three rounds. In 2017, Farmaajo went neck-and-neck with Mohamud to the third round before the latter conceded defeat.

The first Somali president to win a second term, Mohamud has promised to transform Somalia into "a peaceful country that is at peace with the world".

He will inherit several challenges from his predecessor, including a devastating drought that threatens to drive millions into famine.

UN agencies have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe unless early action is taken, with emergency workers fearing a repeat of the devastating 2011 famine, which killed 260,000 people— half of them children under the age of six.

He will also need to repair the damage caused by months of political chaos and infighting, both at the executive level and between the central government and state authorities.

"It's really been a lost year for Somalia," said Omar Mahmood, an analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank.

"This long-awaited election has been divisive. Reconciliation is the most immediate challenge," Mahmood told AFP.

Indebted Country

The heavily indebted country is also at risk of losing access to a three-year $400-million (380-million-euro) aid package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is set to automatically expire by mid-May if a new administration is not in place by then.

The government has asked for a three-month extension until August 17, according to the IMF, which has not yet responded to the request.

Over 70 percent of Somalia's population lives on less than $1.90 a day. The international community had long warned the Farmajo government that the political chaos had allowed Al-Shabaab to exploit the situation and carry out more frequent and large-scale attacks.

Twin suicide bombings in March killed 48 people in central Somalia, including two local lawmakers.

Earlier this month, an attack on an African Union (AU) base killed 10 Burundian peacekeepers, according to Burundi's army. It was the deadliest raid on AU forces in the country since 2015.

The insurgents controlled Mogadishu until 2011 when they were pushed out by an African Union force, but still hold territory in the countryside.

Harry Misiko and Abdulkadir Khalif, Nation Correspondent in Somalia, contributed to this report.