Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has cancelled a scheduled trip to Bujumbura to give support to the under 17 national football team in the Sunday Cecafa championship finals to respond to the current flooding that has hit parts of the country.
A source in Villa Somalia confirmed to Radio Dalsan that Farmaajo had called off a flight to Burundi to witnesses the first Somalia football team in a major regional championship finals in more than 30 years.
Somalia nationals had raised concern over reports that the President was scheduled to fly to Burundi at a time when thousands had been displaced by ongoing floods.
A delegation led by the Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Guled and an estimated 80 fans have flown to Bujumbura for the match
Somalia Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire on Monday formed a 22 member committee to respond to the effects of flooding that has hit the riverine regions of the country affecting thousands of people, Radio Dalsan reports.
Khaire convened an emergency meeting a day after the Hiraan region town of Beledweyne was submerged and appointed the Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Guled to head the team.
More than 427,000 people have been affected as of 26 April and of these nearly 175,000 have been displaced as a result of the flash and river flooding in Hirshabelle, South West and Jubaland states as well as Banadir region, according to data collected by humanitarian partners.
