On every 21st October Somalia remembers the coup D'état that took place 1969 after the assassination of the Somalia's 2nd president and the father of the current premier, Abdirashid Ali Sharmake.

The coup installed in power the late General Siad Barre and brought an abrupt end to the process of party-based constitutional democracy in Somalia.

 

Mohamed Siad barre had been ruling Somalia for 21 years under unilateral party called Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRP).

 

On the evening of 26 January 1991 Mohamed Siad Barre was forced by opponents of his regime to flee Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, for his clan homelands.

 

He did not give up his ambition of recapturing the city for many months, but, confronted by a vengeful Somali militia, and alarmed by disagreements between his own family and supporters, Siad eventually fled to Kenya.

 

It was the end of his 21-year rule in Somalia, which had started as Socialist experimentation and degenerated into dictatorship.

 

 Even though in the past, celebrations were organized by the Military Forces, mainly in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Today the country is engulfed in severe political turmoil.

 

Somalia still struggles with deep poverty and lack of government. Many of the factions in Somalia continue to fight without regard for civilians and human rights abuses.