Hassan Sheikh’s 2019 Jubaland Support Recalled Amid Current Southwest Vote Rejection

Somalia: Hassan Sheikh’s 2019 Support for Jubaland Recalled Amidst Current Rejection of Southwest Vote

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A political letter from 2019 has reentered Somalia’s public debate, drawing attention to the strikingly different positions President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has taken before and after returning to power.

The document, a formal message of congratulations, records Mohamud—then a prominent opposition leader—welcoming the re-election of Jubaland President Ahmed Madobe. At the time, the federal government led by then-President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo condemned the Jubaland poll as illegal and unconstitutional and refused to accept its result.

The letter has resurfaced just as Mohamud’s administration confronts a similar dispute with Southwest State. After the recent re-election of President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed, known as Laftagareen, in Baidoa, the federal presidency has adopted a stance that echoes the earlier federal rejection, deepening the rift between Mogadishu and the regional administration.

Analysts say the episode reflects a familiar pattern in Somali politics: opposition leaders often defend regional autonomy and call for “inclusive” local electoral processes, only to shift toward stronger central oversight once they reach the presidency.

Seen against that backdrop, the 2019 Jubaland controversy and the current Southwest standoff underscore how little has changed in the enduring contest between federal authority and regional power in Somalia.

With the 2026 national electoral deadline drawing closer, the absence of a settled constitutional framework for regional elections continues to feed these cycles of recognition, rejection and political deadlock.

AXADLETM