Addis Ababa (WDN) — President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud arrived in Ethiopia, where he held talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa. While state-run media from both countries described the visit as an effort to “strengthen bilateral relations,” emerging reports suggest the trip carries deeper political undertones linked to Somalia’s internal power struggles.

According to information obtained by WardheerNews, President Hassan Sheikh’s visit is closely tied to Ethiopia’s growing involvement in Somali affairs — particularly its alliance with Jubaland President Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Ahmed Madobe).

President Hassan Sheikh and Ahmed Madobe, who held a tense meeting in Kismayo on October 5, failed to resolve their deep divisions over Jubaland’s election, the regional presidency, Villa Somalia’s controversial constitutional amendment project and its unilateral push for a one-person, one-vote system. The meeting reportedly ended without progress, further widening the rift between Mogadishu and Kismayo.

Sources close to the matter told WardheerNews that President Hassan Sheikh is seeking Addis Ababa’s support to establish a parallel administration in the Gedo region of Jubaland, aimed at weakening Ahmed Madobe’s authority. However, Ethiopia’s current alignment with Madobe makes such backing unlikely and could result that Hassan Sheikh’s maneuver to backfire.

Presdents Hassan’s move is also seen as a potentially self-defeating strategy, one that risks deepening divisions within Somalia’s fragile federal system and straining relations with key regional partners at a time when national stability remains precarious.

On the other hand, President Hassan Sheikh’s visit to Ethiopia comes at a delicate moment, as tensions between Ethiopia and Egypt intensify over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute. The regional standoff has increasingly drawn neighboring countries into its orbit, turning the Horn of Africa into a potential proxy battleground.

Dubbed “the Airborne President,” Hassan Sheikh has been shuttling between Cairo and Addis Ababa with no clear national agenda or tangible gains for Somalia. His erratic diplomacy has left the Somali public and observers alike questioning his true motives, as his foreign engagements appear driven more by personal political survival than by the nation’s interests. In the process, he has sown confusion at home and risked steering Somalia toward the brink of deeper political uncertainty and instability.

In this volatile context, Hassan Sheikh’s engagement in ” The Nile River conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia” risks entangling Somalia in a conflict far beyond its borders — a dangerous gamble that could ignite political and diplomatic backlash at home and abroad.

WardheerNews