Thursday October 28, 2021
Mogadishu skyline. Brian Otieno for The New York Times
Mogadishu (HOL) - President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo issued a decree on Thursday suspending the agreement on any new transfer, lease or sale of public land until parliament finalizes the rules and regulations.
President Farmajo said the government had launched an investigation into illegal property documents issued for the Ex-Control Afgoye penitentiary, educational institutions and other areas in Sinai Market.
The president said the country's current electoral landscape influenced his decision to suspend licenses for the temporary or permanent use of Somalia's land, sea and airspace.
Farmajo issued a similar decree in early August that barred government officials from entering into new agreements during the electoral season.
In February, police in Mogadishu destroyed a boarding the Hamar Boarding School. The school's principal believed that police targeted the property on behalf of outside investors because it sat on prime Mogadishu real estate. Somalia's Police Commissioner, Major General Abdi Hassan Mohamed Hijaar, promised an investigation into the incident.
Farmajo said officials who are found to be misappropriating public funds would be accountable.