A Somali court in Mogadishu issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday against Ahmed Madobe, the recently re-elected president of Jubaland, accusing him of offenses including “undermining national unity.”
The move comes shortly after his re-election in a regional vote that Somalia’s federal government deems illegitimate.
The warrant escalates the long-standing tensions between Ahmed Madobe, a former warlord who has led Jubaland since 2012, and the central government in Mogadishu.
Madobe was re-elected on Monday for a third term by Jubaland’s regional parliament, a process declared unconstitutional by the federal government. Officials in Mogadishu argue that Madobe exceeded the two-term limit outlined in Somalia’s constitution.
On Wednesday, a regional court granted the federal prosecutor’s request to issue an arrest warrant against Madobe, instructing the Somali National Police commander to detain him and present him before the Banadir Regional Court.
Madobe faces charges including “high treason,” “undermining national unity,” “sharing sensitive information with a foreign country,” and “attacking Somalia’s constitutional framework.”
The Somali government had aimed to delay the Jubaland presidential election until 2025, aligning it with its broader plan to introduce direct universal suffrage nationwide.
Currently, Somali leaders are selected through a complex system of indirect clan-based voting.
Pro-Madobe legislators attempted to disrupt parliamentary proceedings on Wednesday but were unsuccessful.
The session continued and approved the formation of an 18-member electoral commission tasked with overseeing national elections.
Somalia, which remains engulfed in conflict, operates as a federation of five semi-autonomous states—Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle, and South West—under a central government based in Mogadishu.
A sixth region, Somaliland, declared independence in 1991 and conducts direct elections but is not internationally recognized.
Ahmed Madobe, whose full name is Ahmed Mohamed, gained prominence in 2012 after ousting the al-Shabaab militants from Kismayo, Jubaland’s capital, with the support of Kenyan forces.
Both Kenya and Ethiopia, which maintain significant troop presences in Jubaland, view the region as a vital buffer zone against al-Shabaab militants, responsible for numerous attacks in their territories.
