President Hassan Sheikh to pay his first domestic trip to Baidoa

The new president of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is expected to pay his first domestic visit to Baidoa city. Multiple sources confirmed that the president’s trip is centered on fixing a fresh political row between Villa Somalia and the regional administration. The officials did not give a specific date for the president’s trip.

Hassan Sheikh will hold talks with regional leader Abdiaziz Lafta-Garen, a close ally of the former President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo who helped him occupy the top seat and arrested his political rival Mukhtar Roobow.

He will ask Laf-Garen to set aside the differences and focus on the upcoming election in Southwest, which Villa Somalia wants to go as scheduled and peaceful. The president’s travel to Baidoa, about 250Kms southwest of Mogadishu comes as members of his inner circle from the Southwest started a plot to impeach Lafta-Garen.

Lafta-Garen’s 4-year term expires in six months with Southwest state politicians in Mogadishu joining hands to unseat him in the December 2022 regional election. Baidoa witnessed street clashes days before the December vote following the arrest of Mukhtar Robow, the former Al-Shabaab spokesman who was running for president.