Somalia shoots itself in the foot over the expulsion of UN Special Envoy: Opinion
The decision by the Somali government to expel United Nations (UN) Special Envoy to the country Nicholas Haysom last week speaks volumes about why Somalia is struggling to achieve political stability and peace. Mogadishu declared Haysom, the South African lawyer and seasoned diplomat, persona non grata on 1 January, thereby forcing UN Secretary-General António Guterres to replace him. Ultimately Haysom lost his job because the federal Somali government insisted on hoarding power to it in what is supposed to be an autonomous federal member state. Haysom, who had only been in the post for three months, after a successful stint as UN Special Envoy to the Sudans, was thrown out because he criticised President Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmajo” Mohamed’s government for arresting Mukhtar Robow, a candidate in the presidential elections last December in Somalia’s South West State. Robow is a former deputy leader of al-Shabaab, the violent extremist group that the Somali governme