Ahmed Madobe is proving to be a real headache for President Mohamed Farmajo.
Ahmed Mohamed Madobe, the president of the Jubbaland region, takes the oath of office after winning their presidential election, in the southern port town of Kismayu, Somalia August 22, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer
Jubaland election inflames passions in Horn
August 23, 2019 (ION) – Why is it that a presidential election in the autonomous region of Jubaland has given rise to a clash with international dimensions, with the Somali government, the United States and Ethiopia in one camp and Jubaland with the backing of Kenya in the other? The electoral process culminating in the election on 22 August has provoked a conflict that has degenerated to the point where Ethiopian and Kenyan troops have very nearly come to blows. The latest revelations:
A powder keg of an electoral commission…
In a letter dated 16 August (see here) and addressed to the UN representative in Somalia James Swan, the chair of the Jubaland Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission (JIBEC), Hamza Abdi Barre, announced a 72-hour extension so that candidates in the Jubaland presidential election would have time to register. According to our sources, in a meeting attended by Swan the ‘international community’ had suggested on the previous day to the JIBEC chair that it would be preferable for viable candidates to have a chance of preventing the re-election of the incumbent president Ahmed Mohamed Islam, aka Madobe. In the end, Anab Dahir, Mohamed Gedi and Mohamud Omar stood against Madobe in the election on 22 August, although Madobe still won a comfortable victory with 56 of 74 MPs voting for him.
However, these manoeuvrings prompted a strong reaction from Kenya on 18 August. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed a letter to the United Nations under-secretary-general for political affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, to object to James Swan’s pronouncements, which it claimed could plunge Jubaland into ‘anarchy’. It also complained that Swan had not bothered to keep countries neighbouring Jubaland informed – countries which are also involved in AMISOM (the African Union mission in Somalia).
Sparks fly at Kismayo airport
These tensions rapidly came to the fore on 19 August when an Ethiopian plane transporting Ethiopian troops to bolster the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) contingent within AMISOM was refused permission to land at Kismayo airport by the Jubaland military, who were backed up by soldiers from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF). The situation then escalated as clashes broke out between the ENDF and KDF in Kismayo and Gedo, which prompted the commander of AMISOM, the Ethiopian general Tigabu Yilma, to intervene in an attempt to defuse tensions.
These incidents reflect the rift that has arisen between the Somali government backed by Ethiopia and the United States on the one side and Madobe and Kenya on the other. According to our sources, Madobe is proving to be a real headache for the Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo. For a start, he is on good terms with the President of Somaliland Musa Bihi Abdi and will not support Farmajo in his bid for re-election in 2021. As a result, he has attracted criticism from the US ambassador to Somalia, Donald Yamamoto, and the Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, who are championing the central government. In addition, Madobe has allowed the leaders of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), an Ethiopian rebel group that is campaigning for the Somalia region’s independence from Addis Ababa, to regroup on Jubaland soil.
Madobe is a former founding member of Al-Shabaab who split from the Islamist armed group and is now actively fighting against it. He is currently much occupied in protecting the Kenyan border from Al-Shabaab incursions and combating illegal trade between Somalia and Kenya.
Description of source: Since 1981, the Indian Ocean Newsletter (ION) investigates within the power spheres of the Eastern coast of Africa, from Karthoum to Cape Town and the islands. Country of origin: France
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Ahmed Mohamed Madobe, the president of the Jubbaland region, addresses lawmakers after winning their presidential election, in the southern port town of Kismayu, Somalia August 22, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer
