MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s government and its opposition agreed to hold protests over delayed elections next week amid COVID19 crisis that brought the country’s health system under strain.
Somali prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and opposition presidential candidates met at Decale Hotel at Adan Adde airport in Mogadishu on Monday to discuss ways of resuming anti-government march delayed last week following talks between the two sides.
The anti-government protest will be held at Daljirka Dahson Square in Mogadishu on Saturday March 6, opposition presidential candidate Abdirahman Abdishakur said in a speech shortly after the talks had been concluded.
Government security forces will protect the opposition protesters, who will gather at a square close to the residence of Somali leader Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, whose term expired several weeks ago, prompting calls for him to resign.
Somali security forces responded with deadly force to opposition rally on February 19 that resulted in the deaths of more than 10 people with many more wounded, in what opposition described as an escalation of violence and an attempt to assassinate their leaders.
A six-member committee from both the opposition and the government has been formed to establish an independent investigation into the February 19 attack on opposition march near Mogadishu’s Adan Adde Airport.
Here is a list of members of the committee:
- Bashir Mohamed Jama (Gobe)
- Mohamed Abdulkadir Haji
- Abdirahman Mohamed Turyare
- Mohamed Ali Barise
- Yasin Abdullahi Mohamud
- Hussein Moalim Mohamud
The announcement over the resumption of opposition protest has come at a time what infectious disease experts believe to be a new COVID-19 variant is spreading at a great speed throughout the war-torn country.
The federal government is currently considering whether to impose a full lockdown to contain the spread of the contagious disease after the ministry of health called for harsh measures to slow it down.
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