Somali PM pays tribute to slain young MP in U.N. address

Hassan Ali Khaire, the Prime Minister of Somalia, paid tribute to a young minister who was mistakenly shot in the capital Mogadishu in May 2017.

At the time of the incident, the 31-year-old Abbas Abdullahi Sheik Siraji was barely two months at post after he was appointed Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction by the Prime Minister.

“The youth are vital to state building, I pay tribute to my late Minister Abbas Siraji, he was a beacon of hope for Somalia’s young people,” Khaire stressed in his address at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The youth are vital to state building, I pay tribute to my late Minister Abbas Siraji, he was a beacon of hope for Somalia’s young people. pic.twitter.com/sm3GOZEhcQ

— SomaliPM (@SomaliPM) September 22, 2017

PM Khaire said the government of Farmaajo was committed to to a “rising Somali” and that their aim was to contribute to bettering the the country, the region, the continent and the world at large.

The slain minister was driving his car when government soldiers opened fire and killed him in the process. It was reported that they mistook him for a bomber as the capital was at the time hit by multiple car bombs.

President Farmaajo who at the time was in Ethiopia, cut short his official visit to return for Abbas’ burial and promised the perpetrators will be brought to book. The country has been suffering a surge of attacks in recent times by insurgent group, Al-Shabaab.