President Ahmed Islam Madobe of the semiautonomous state of Jubbaland has left the region for Nairobi.
Madobe boarded a plane in Kismayo that left off for Nairobi on February 15.
It is worth noting that he departs for the Kenyan capital on the day he was expected to join fellow leaders of other Federal Member States (FMS) in Garowe.
The regional state leaders were scheduled to kick off the latest round of elections talks with representatives of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) in the Puntland capital.
However, it is not clear whether the talks would take off.
That is because there has been plenty of criticism over the choice of Garowe as the location for hosting the talks.
Puntland and Jubbaland leaders have led the chorus of calls urging for relocating the venue to Mogadishu to allow more stakeholders to participate.
Madobe’s departure for Nairobi is also crucial since President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has often accused Kenya of propping up the Jubbaland leader’s administration.