Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has inaugurated the newly refurbished headquarters of the 77th Military Police Brigade, which is responsible for protecting the presidential palace, Villa Somalia, in Mogadishu.
The upgraded facility includes administrative offices, accommodation for officers and personnel, and worship facilities.
Officials say the refurbishment is part of wider efforts to modernise military infrastructure and strengthen the operational capacity of Somalia’s security forces.
The inauguration ceremony on Thursday was also attended by the Commander of the Somali National Army, Major General Ibrahim Mohamed Mahmud, and the commander of the 77th Presidential Guard Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Maslah Mahmud Mohamed.
The development comes more than two years after the transfer of security responsibility for Villa Somalia and the Federal Parliament from the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF), serving under the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), to the Somali National Security Forces in December 2023.
