A kinship to an Italian-friendly MP made Abshir acceptable to trusteeship authorities

Evidence

Among other things, Mohamed Abshir said that the duty of the police is to be faithful to the government that the people have elected freely and democratically. Who knows if his statement was meant as a warning—that is, the police would obey only such a government and not one that attains power without being democratically elected, as certain people would not be averse to maintaining power against the will of the people. … There has been a lot of speculation that Osman was an important factor in the elevation of Abshir to the top police job. Recent information indicates that Osman was not involved. The question is, how did the nationalist Abshir become acceptable to the Italians? It is reported that an important member of parliament from El Bur, named El Mondo, was married to Abshir’s aunt (“ina Musa Mataan”). His pro-Italian credentials were sufficient to reassure the Italians about Abshir’s nationalist credentials, and the Italians did not block the competent Abshir’s rise to the top post in the Somali police during the trusteeship. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1306