Mogadishu(SONNA)-Somalia marked 60th anniversary this year since independence and it was widely celebrated as citizens and officials come out in colors to mark this important day, the same was seen in many countries around the world as Somali Diaspora organized cultural events to celebrate Somalia’s independence.
The President of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has officially opened several key centers during this independence week as the entire country was geared up to the event. The public helped rebuild some of these institutions through the self-voluntary program launched by the president in 2018.
Some of the centers opened include the National theatre, the National museum, the National library, Mogadishu Stadium, the renovated Ministries of information, Commerce, Planning Agriculture and other key areas.
This has become a pattern for president Farmaajo’s government which has achieved great progress in developing the country. A major reconstruction has been underway in the capital to restore its beauty. The capital Mogadishu has been under destruction for long period of time which saw the destruction of social amenities such as hospitals, schools and roads. To address this problem affecting the public the current government has commissioned the renovation of several hospitals such as Benadir hospital and Martini hospital to be able to deal with public health demands such as COVID 19 demands. The government has also constructed several roads establishing to all parts of the capital.
Independence week come as blessing for the youth this year as for the first time the Mogadishu stadium is open for sports. The stadium which has been a battle ground for better part the last three decades has been renovated to international standard. The sporting facility comes as surprise to most Somalis as they were amazed by the beauty of the renovation.
The public also played a key role in celebrating Independence Day as they wore national flag colors and gathered in different places around the city. Youth could be seen matching around the city dressed in blue and white which other took to the internet posting picture of how they celebrated some getting creative.
On first of July the President addressed the nation from the newly opened national theatre attended by sections of the community and important public figures. He urged the public to remain united as they have been throughout this independence week. He urged them aide the government in maintaining good governance as countries progress when law and order is observed. He challenged the youth to dwell in the future and set their mind to competing with other countries and to use their resilience to prosper their country.
The president remembered the freedom fighters that paid the ultimate price to liberate the country, he said countless minds and efforts have gone into achieving the independent of Somalia we have today and they must be honored and remembered.
He said every Somali youth should have the SYL 13 as role models. Somali youth league popularly known as SYL consisted of 13 members. A group 13 youngsters come together to discuss how to save the country from its enemies which were at the time European colonizers. They planned together, suffered together and persevered together to reach their goal.
President Farmajo said that they could only remember them and try to have the same love they had for our beautiful country.
“We have historic reputation in the world that is held highly of us, this reputation was achieved by our forefathers and the administrations that existed after independence. They set the bar high by making Somalia to be the best in almost everything ranging from transparency, military power and patriotism. All these can be achieved if we put tribalism a side and focus on the things that unite us, we all need each other and how far we will go can only be measured by how united we remain”, Said the President.
President Farmajo thanked the public for their patriotism and their contribution to the progress of the country. He specially thanked them for their response to his call for self-voluntary. The self-voluntary program was major success and the fruits of that exercise gave us our theater, museum and library back. The same programs cleaned our streets, cleaned our institutions.
The president prayed for our modern day heroes who paid the ultimate price for serving their people and their country. He prayed for the former mayor of Benadir the late Abdirahman Omar Yarisow (Eng. Yarisow) who was a pioneer of the self-voluntary program. Together with his team they carried out extensive campaign to restore the beauty of Benadir region. He personally took part in beautification exercises and motivated the public to follow his steps. His campaign saw the restorations of public facilities and changing the public perception on building their country.
Similarly, the president thanked the parliamentarians for their unanimous vote to have representatives from Benadir region in the senate house. Benadir region will have a total of 13 senators representing it in the new law that was passed. This decision was historic and residents of Benadur region took to the streets to show support for the move. Groups living in the capital felt under represented and thanks to the senators and the president’s call their plea has been heard.
Finally the president awarded certificates for outstanding individuals who played great role in the self-voluntary program. Among these were former director of the National Theatre Osman Abdullahi Gure, chairman of the chamber of commerce, Mohamud Abdi Ali (Gabeyre), the director of National construction agency Gen Bashir Mohamed Jama and the chairman of the National Civil Commission, Hassan Mohamed Abshirow who received the award on behalf of the entire civil society.
By Abdikani Abdullahi
