Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islaan (Madobe)

A long-running maritime dispute plus simmering tensions over Kenya's support for President Ahmed Madobe of the federal member state of Jubaland which Nairobi regards as a buffer against the Al Shabaab Islamist militia and Kenya's harbouring of Jubaland's fugitive security minister Abdirashid Hassan Abdinur Janan accused of war crimes had already left Kenya-Somalia relations at their lowest ebb in decades (AC Vol 61 No 6 Frontier fracas & Vol 60 No 18 Jubaland row heats up oil tiff)...

The Jubaland and Puntland presidents Ahmed Madobe (Darod/Ogadeni) and Said Deeni (Darod/Majerteen) decided not to send their delegates to the commissions...

Last year Farmajo and Yasin wanted to sideline Ahmed Madobe the Jubaland president and have someone loyal to them elected there (AC Vol 61 No 10 Who wants an election...

In Lower Juba Ahmed Madobe was re-elected regional president last August through a dubious process and is coping with an opposition led by Ethiopia and the government in Mogadishu (AC Vol 60 No 2 Mogadishu lashes out)...

It had been an open secret that Kenya had been harbouring Janan who is a close ally of Jubaland supremo Ahmed Madobe since late January...

Diplomatic sources say meanwhile that Farmajo is pushing his favoured candidate Aviation Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Salad Omar to take on Jubaland President Ahmed Mohamed Islaan 'Madobe' in the elections...

Trust in Ethiopian neutrality in Somalia is low so much so that there are rumours that Ethiopian troops plan to take over Kismayo and arrest the current Jubaland president Ahmed Madobe...

Ahmed Madobe the President of Jubaland and leader of the Ras Kamboni militia has been travelling all over his region which adjoins Kenya to recruit fighters for an attack on Bu'ale which Al Shabaab has controlled for more than a decade...

Farmajo had made the way clear for Robow and set up meetings with US officials and former political and military foes such as Ahmed Madobe leader of the Ras Kamboni militia and one-time ruler of Kismayo and allowed him to maintain a 300-strong militia including Al Shabaab defectors without question...

In a possible reflection of the strategic realignments in progress Ethiopian troops in Kismayo now rarely leave their barracks even though Al Shabaab is particularly active in challenging the local rule of Ahmed Mohamed 'Madobe' in Jubaland...