Villa Somalia rapprochement with South-West angers Jubaland

[Deeq A.]

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud keeps his allies thinking about his next move.

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — The second reign of Damuljadid clique of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is characterised by political flexibility to keep its allies thinking about the next move of the group. The re-appointment of Brigadier General Mahad Abdirahman Adan as the Commander of the Somali Custodial Corps indicates closer ties with South West State President Abdiaziz Laftagareen, who is married to the daughter of General Mahad.

General Mahad is an MP. He will resign before officially being sworn in as the Commander of Custodial Corps. His appointment points to the direction of Villa Somalia policies to co-opt Federal Member States. 10 months ago Villa Somalia was sponsoring a group of South-West politicians opposed to a term extension for President Laftagareen whose ties with Ethiopia are believed to have nipped Villa Somalia stratagems in the bud.

President Abdiaziz Laftagareen secured a term extension that had driven a wedge between his detractors and Villa Somalia.

President Laftagareen secured a controversial term extension that alienated his detractors whom Villa Somalia used to forge ties with the administration of Laftagareen. This rapprochement angered Jubaland President Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Ahmed Madoobe) whose term of office should have come to an end this year before he persuaded Jubaland Parliament to amend the presidential term from four years to five years.

Brigadier General Mahad has been reappointed as the Commander of the Somali Custodial Corps thanks to lobbying by President Laftagareen.

Several opposition politicians have called for President Ahmed to open up the political space of Jubaland formed in 2013. Opposition politicians urged President Ahmed not to run for a third term, a proposal he described as a plan to destabilise Jubaland State.

Ahmed Madoobe has received assurances from Villa Somalia that it is not “backing any of his critics and that, unlike the former federal government, Villa Somalia will not sponsor politicians seeking to replace a President of a Federal Member State”.

Dazed: President Ahmed Madobe is unnerved by the ephemerality of Jubaland ties with Villa Somalia.

Ten years ago, Villa Somalia sponsored Barre Hirale, a former warlord, to challenge Ahmed Madoobe for Jubaland leadership after the Kenyan navy, in alliance with Raskamboni paramilitaries, liberated Kismayo from Al-shabaab.

The closer ties between Laftagareen and Villa Somalia unnerved Jubaland President, who views the ephemerality of relations with Villa Somalia as a risk not worth taking in the highly unpredictable landscape of Somalia politics. President Ahmed Madoobe plans to visit Kenya to have a closed-door meeting with the Kenyan President William Ruto who renewed the Kenya policy based on the creation of an undeclared buffer zone in Southern Somalia to counter the threat of Al-shabaab.

© Puntland Post, 2023

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