Somalia declares 3-day mourning after the death of ex-leader

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The outgoing Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has ordered the country's flag to be flown at half-staff as a sign of respect for former leader Ali Mahdi Mohamed who has died on Wednesday. 

Farmajo has directed the country to observe a three-day state mourning as a result of the death of the fourth Somali president served between 1991 and 1997 during the civil war.

The government appointed an 11-member committee to give the former leader a state burial as a sign of appreciation for the leadership of the deceased.

"We're lowering the national flag for three days as a sign of grief following the death of President Ali Mahdi Mohamed. I have also appointed the national funeral committee," Farmajo said, in what appears to be the government's decision to take care of funeral expenses.

Mohamed has passed on in Nairobi, aged 82, the government of Somalia announced on Wednesday, adding that he had been hospitalized in neighboring Kenya for some time now.

Following his death, top political leaders in Somalia have continued to send outpouring messages of condolences to the family of the former leader, who was at the helm for almost a decade, when Somalia was undergoing a different transition period.

"I share my grief to Somalia people as a whole and offer my condolences to the family of former president Ali Mahdi Mohamed who died in Nairobi. May God has mercy on him," former transitional President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said.

"On behalf of the Government of Puntland, we extend our deepest condolences to the family members and Somali citizens for the loss of the former President of Somalia, Ali Mahdi Mohammad. May Allah have mercy on his soul and grant sabar to those he left behind. Aameen" added Said Abdullahi Deni of Puntland.

Multiple sources confirmed to Garowe Online that the former leader was fighting the novel Covid-19 in Nairobi Hospital. Ali Mahdi’s time as president was marred by the civil war in Mogadishu between him and supporters of late Gen M.F. Aidid.

Ali Mahdi was appointed as President on Jan 28, 1991. He was immediately opposed by Gen Aidid but was re-elected during a conference in Djibouti in July 1991, was nominally president until the election of Abdiqasim Salad in August 2000. Mahdi was born in Addow Uul, Middle Shabelle.

Also, Somalia is mourning the death of former police commander Brigadier General Ahmed Jama Muse who passed away in Mogadishu following complications from Covid-19, state media is reporting.

The second wave of a pandemic is ravaging Somalia as positive cases and the death toll continues to increase.

GAROWE ONLINE