A four bedroom apartment in Westlands, Nairobi, has now earned its place in history after it was revealed that Somalia's new President Mohammed Farmajo campaigned from the complex.
In an interview with the Standard, President Farmajo’s former driver and bodyguard Mr Geoffrey Cheruiyot revealed that the Somalia President did his campaigns quietly from the apartment as early as 2006.
Cheruiyot stated that Farmajo led a simple life and loved to buy roasted maize along the roadside whenever he drove him around.
“He mostly had American Dollars and he would convert them to Kenyan shillings from time to time. I can not describe him as too wealthy but he was certainly a man of means,” said Cheruiyot.
He noted that Farmajo marvelled at how Kenyans walked freely even late at night and the tranquillity that surrounded the rich in Westlands.
The bodyguard added that Farmajo never felt threatened by terror group Al-Shabaab here in Nairobi and never walked around with bodyguards or even a gun.
Cheruiyot further revealed that Farmajo visited all major hotels in Nairobi but frequented the Hotel Laico where he run his campaign and met Somali Legislators convincing them to vote for him.
President Farmajo came to Kenya in 2012 after he was pushed out as Somali Prime Minister after a short stint from November 2010 to June 2011.
He founded the Tayo Political Party and was subsequently elected as the 9th President of Somalia after winning the 2017 Somali presidential election. He garnered 184 votes out of the total 328 that were cast by the Members of the Somali Parliament.
