Middle Shabelle authority orders closure of schools in Jowhar for 90 days
The administration has ordered closure of all educational institutions in jowhar town for upto 90 days ahead of state formation conference for Hiraan and Middle Shabelle regions.
Ali Abdullahi Hussein, governor of Middle Shabelle said the closure of schools was occasioned by the upcoming conference as most of the schools are close to the venue of the conference.
The administration confirmed that the decision to raise the security level in the town was taken after long consultation with the authorities of the institutions of the town.
This comes less than a month after authorities in Middle Shabelle region imposed a ban on wearing the full-face Islamic veil in public in order to tackle a security threat from people using it to conceal their identity.
The region’s director for media relations, Abdikarim Omar Molaim said the administration was in agreement with the measure after what he said were reports of individuals using this kind of veil to carry out illegal acts.
“The ban will come into effect on 25th December and no woman will be allowed to wear the veil in Jowhar” said Abdikarim last month.
“The administration took this step as the state formation conference is approaching,” Omar said. “We regard this as a legitimate step for the security of the region.”
“Together with authorities, we recognized that there were badly intentioned people making use of the veil to carry out unauthorized acts,” he added.
The administration is making its last preparations to open state formation conference for Hiraan and Middle Shabelle region.
The conference is expected to attract hundreds of delegates and will for three months which will culminate into the election of the new state president.
The security of the district and nearby areas was tightened by special trained forces and SNA soldiers.
The administration has made a rallying call to the people in the region to get ready for the upcoming conference for the formation of an interim state for the two regions.