Former Alshabaab deputy leader Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansoor is eyeing to replace Shariff Hassan Adan as the next President of the South West State, a source has affirmed to Radio Dalsan.
Robow, according to a source close to the ex militant chief has kicked off a series of meeting s with local leaders in the regional state to lobby for a yet be declared interest for the South West presidency.
He has been shuttling between his home town Huduur and the South west state administrative capital of Baidoa.
Robow is reported to have met US Embassy officials in Nairobi among other western diplomats who have pledged to support him fight Alshabaab.
In June 2017 the US cancelled a $5M reward offered for his capture paving way for his defection.
“He is seeking to ensure that any sanctions issued against him by the international community are scrapped off before he announces his intention to vie for presidency” a South west source who spoke to Radio Dalsan on condition of anonymity said.
This week the regional state leader Shariff Hassan Adan announced that elections will be held in December.
If Robow announces his interest he is likely to be Adan’s formidable challenge in the race to lead the region .
Public opinion ratings on Adan a long time politician has recently been fluctuating having survived two attempts by regional opposition Mps to oust him.
But outside his home region of South West Robow’s defection was received with mix reaction as was witnessed on Somalia social media after he visited the gound zero of the Zoobe bombing and donated blood to the victims of the attack.
If the reception given to Robow upon his return to Baidoa after defecting Alshabaab is anything to go by it is a clear sign of the popularity he enjoys on the ground. He announced upon his return that he will work for a “peaceful and prosperous” South West and asked the people of the state to support him fight Alshabaab.
He is said to command up to 400 ex- AlShabaab militia who security sources say are on the bank roll of the US.
If Robow announces his interest to view he may well be on the line to follow the path of ex militants who joined the government to become leaders among them former President Shariff Sheikh Ahmed and Jubbaland state leader Ahmed Islam Madobe.
Robow is the most senior figure of the Alqaeda linked militant group to have quit since its establishment in 2011.
