There was a moment in President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s Independence Day address on Thursday night when he asked his audience to consider a simple question: who would have imagined Mogadishu would turn out this way?
He was standing at the Banadir Regional Administration headquarters, speaking to thousands of Somalis who had gathered for the official 66th Independence Day celebrations, with tens of thousands more watching on 16 public screens across the capital’s districts. Behind him was the flag. Around him was a city that, not long ago, many had written off entirely.
By the time he finished speaking, he had addressed three distinct audiences on three distinct matters: his own people, the people of the north, and the European Union.
