MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, a U.S.-educated former prime minister, was sworn in as Somalia’s new president on Wednesday after lawmakers gave him an unassailable lead in the second round of an election in Mogadishu’s secure airport compound.
Celebratory gunfire erupted across the city at his victory. Outgoing President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud conceded defeat as it became clear he could not win a third round.
“This is a victory for Somalia and the Somalis,” Farmajo told lawmakers who had gathered in a hall behind the airport’s blast walls to vote. He was sworn in moments earlier.
(Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by Edmund Blair; editing by John Stonestreet)
