Somalia’s president fired the mayor of the capital Mogadishu on Sunday, in an apparent bid to defuse moves toward greater autonomy for the city.
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed named current Information Minister Abdirahman Omar Osman to the post of Mogadishu mayor and governor of the Banadir administration, the region that includes the city, according to a statement from his office.
Osman replaces Thabit Abdi Mohamed who has served just nine months in office.
Immediately after the mayor’s firing, government security forces were deployed across Mogadishu to forestall any potential protest against the move.