Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam, popularly known as Ahmed Madobe, who was meeting his supporters at a Nairobi hotel yesterday, said the officials in the Somalia government are out to portray his administration as weak and unable to govern the new state. Somalia’s federal constitution says two or more regions that meet requirements can form a state within a new federal system. In an election held on May 15, delegates voted for Madobe as the Jubaland’s first President and General Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail as Vice President. Kismayu, is the capital city of the new state and was considered a strong- hold of terrorist group al Shabaab prior to Kenya Defence Forces’ takeover last September.
Madobe refuted claims that his administration is comprised only of members of his clan. The recent insecurity in Kismayu has been attributed to clan fighting. “My election was an initiative of the people of Jubaland through their own resources at the Kismayu University and the delegates were picked by all the clans in the south,” Madobe said through a translator.
Meanwhile, the president of the federal states of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud yesterday called for an immediate end to the fighting in Kismayu.