The delegation led by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud departed from Kismayo, after hours-long talks with Jubbaland President Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madoobe), with President Madoobe personally seeing off President Hassan Sheikh’s delegation at the airport.
According to sources close to both sides, the talks ended without any tangible results, with differences between them remaining.
A press release from Villa Somalia, which did not mention the name of the Jubaland President, said that progress had been made in the talks, with an agreement to continue the consultations and return to other meetings to further advance the dialogue process.
President Hassan Sheikh thanked Jubbaland and the people of Kismayo for their warm welcome and hospitality, noting that Somali unity and solidarity are essential for the country’s development, according to a statement from Villa Somalia.
President Hassan Sheikh has embraced the view that the elections held in Kismayo in November 2024, in which Ahmed Madobe was elected president of Jubaland, are null and void, as soon as he returns to the National Consultative Council meetings.
Ahmed Madoobe has also insisted that the November 2024 elections are non-negotiable, and that the warrant issued for his arrest should be withdrawn, and that instead, he should work with the federal government in the process of building a state in Somalia.
The dispute between the Federal Government and Jubbaland has been dragging on for some time, and it began last year when the Jubbaland administration released a list of members of the electoral commission, while the federal government wanted to unify federal and regional elections across the country.
Then, in a statement, the Ministry of Interior condemned what it called an “illegal step” that President Ahmed had appointed the Jubbaland electoral commission.
After the election, which elected President Ahmed, the Federal Government’s cabinet said that the election in Jubbaland that re-elected Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Ahmed Madoobe) was illegal, and the government, along with the members who elected him, called Ahmed Madoobe a “former leader.” All steps related to the election were described by the federal government as illegal.
The Kismayo talks were seen as an important opportunity to build cooperation and trust after years of political tensions and repeated disagreements between the two sides.
