"[3] The Geledi Sultanate was a powerful Somali state based in the inter-riverine region in southern Somalia that held sway over the Jubba and Shabelle rivers.

Yusuf would intervene and Witu would prove victorious as it would bring the Sultan to engage a newly emerging militant group in Bardera which was a key trade hub and where the Siyu Somalis drew their strength.

[4][5] In 1885, the German brothers Clemens and Gustav Denhardt negotiated a treaty with Ahmed ibn Fumo Bakari, the first mfalme (Swahili for sultan or king) of Witu who ceded, on 8 April 1885, 25 square miles of territory to the brothers' "Tana Company",[2] and the remainder of the Wituland became the German Protectorate of Wituland (Deutsch-Witu) on 27 May 1885.

After a series of shoot-outs, Sultan Fumo Bakari ibn Ahmad fled from the town, with roughly 3,000 of his remaining gunmen.

Thick forest and camouflaged pits with sharpened stakes surrounded the strongly fortified towns, and the rebel gunmen had prepared defensive positions that allowed for heavy fire.

Fumo 'Umari moved the capital to Jongeni, but the growth of British power and of the regional importance of Zanzibar saw Witu's position and influence gradually decline.