Co-opting rather than reconciling with Al-shabaab is the policy successive Somali governments have adopted, writes Liban Ahmad
The arrest of Southwest State Presidential candidate Mukhtar Robow in Baydhaba city has divided Somalis into two groups. One group criticises the government for sending troops to Baydhaba to arrest and airlift Robow to Mogadishu.
“Why was he allowed to become a candidate in the first place if the government blocks his candidacy” this group argues. A month ago the Somali Interior Ministry issued a policy statement indicating the government’s position on Robow.
The statement underlined obligations attached to co-opting Robow as a former senior Al-shabaab leader. The government has not been keen on mainstreaming former Al-shabaab leaders who defect from the proscribed group.
Critics of the government argue the arrest of Robow boosts chances of electing someone close to the Federal Government of Somalia when Southwest State elections take place before the end of 2018. “No one should condone a mass murderer… [;] reconciliation is the best course to end Al-Shabaab’s war” tweeted Abdihakim Ainte, a Somali political commentator .
The second group supports the government decision to arrest Robow on grounds that he was deploying fighters in Baydhaba. The second argument of this group revolves around moral questions raised by Robow’s past advocacy to kill Somali troops, government workers and Amisom peacekeepers. After defecting from the extremist group Robow said the group had deviated from the right path. His stance on Al-shabaab does not amount to full apology to relatives of Al-shabaab victims.
The former Somali President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, defended the right of Robow to seek office in the Southwest State election but urged him to clarify his position of Al-shabaab ideology. “One can fight Al-shabaab while sharing common ideology with it” said President Mohamud said.
Former Somali President: “One can fall out with Al-shabaab but retain its ideology”
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud adopted a policy of co-opting former senior Al-shabaab members. This two-tier policy has had consequences. It kept some former members under house arrest, as is the case with Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweis. The current government has not changed this policy.
The second part of the policy enabled a former senior Al-shabaab member, Mohamed Saeed Atam, to be granted political asylum in a foreign country. Reconciliation is not a word bandied around when formulating policies to end or contain Al-shabaab threats. Al-shabaab had added a new religious dimension to Somali political turmoil in an attempt to replace modern Somali political identity with one based on creed.
In short Al-shabaab opposes the Somali nation state in a world of nation states. This political reality renders efforts to transform former senior Al-shabaab members into a national politician a Herculean task.
Liban Ahmad
Horn Diplomat Political Analyst
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