Ex-Somalia PM Farmajo trumps Hassan Sheikh in presidential poll

Sound of celebratory gunfire greeted the election of former Somalia Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed ‘Farmajo” as the new president after edging out incumbent Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Wednesday’s presidential poll.

The ex-PM Farmajo won the election in the second round of voting after incumbent Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke had dropped out of the race leaving three top candidates to battle it out.

The incumbent Mohamud, who was elected on September 10, 2012, conceded the election sending the crowd wild at the Mogadishu airport where the election was being conducted for security reasons.

Major streets leading to the airport and in the city were on lock down to ward off potential attacks from Al-Shabaab extremists who reportedly fired two mortar rounds close to the site of the election.

Election winner Farmajo faced a strong competition in the second round of voting, facing off with the incumbent president Mohamud and a former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

The presidential election featured 24 candidates in the first round, including one female contender.