A foreign vice president was on Tuesday, November 26, forced to seek shelter at a Kenyan hotel for safety.
A report carried by the Daily Nation indicated that Jubaland VP Mohamud Sayyid Adan was holed up inside a hotel in Mandera over wrangles with Ethiopia.
The publication disclosed that the Ethiopian forces had prevented him from visiting a region in Somalia identified as Bula-Hawa.
The VP and his entourage were reportedly booked into the hotel five days prior to the report and Kenya Defence Forces officers had since taken over their security.
“We have a VIP from Somalia who was prevented from visiting Bula Hawa by some military forces but you can get much information from Nairobi,” Daily Nation quoted a source from Mandera.
Jubaland is a state in the Southern region of Somalia that got its first president in 2013 after Somali troops which were supported by the African Union pushed Al Shabaab militants out of Kismayo.
Jubaland state and Ethiopia have had a months-long spar over the safety of the region with reports claiming that the dispute was likely to disintegrate the African Union Mission to Somalia (Amisom) and expose the region to Al Shabaab.
On Monday, November 18, the state accused Ethiopia of colluding with the federal government of Somalia to oust its recently elected president Ahmed Madobe who is a close ally of Kenya.
"The Jubaland security in Northern Gedo has started to disintegrate and lose cohesion and are likely to turn into clan militia," read part of a statement issued by the state.
Kenya is also at the center of the state's wrangles with Somalia following an incident where KDF troops manning the Southern sector were accused of blocking an Ethiopian plane from landing at Kismayo Airport.
The standoff was so intense until the Kenyan government intervened after Somali President Mohamed Farmajo imposed sanctions on Jubaland.
"Jubaland is the buffer for the whole of East African region and Kenya congratulates President Madobe for being in the forefront for the fight against terrorism," stated National Assembly majority leader Aden Duale.
