Exposed: Somali Official's Ties to Terror Groups and Money Laundering

by: Horn Observer Contributor | 22 July 2024 01:32

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Exposed: Somali Official's Ties to Terror Groups and Money Laundering

MOGADISHU, Somalia (HORN OBSERVER) - Little has been known about the connections between some Somali government officials and senior and mid-rank commanders of terror groups like Al-Shabaab and ISIS in Somalia. However, for the first time, a state me

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(Right pictured) The Deputy Minister of Information, Abdirahman Yusuf Omar, aka 'Al Adala' and (left) his paternal uncle, Yahye Ahmed Mohamud, the deputy head of Al-Shabaab's suicide unit who shared a room with Al Adala.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (HORN OBSERVER) - Little has been known about the connections between some Somali government officials and senior and mid-rank commanders of terror groups like Al-Shabaab and ISIS in Somalia. However, for the first time, a state media journalist turned whistleblower has exposed some of these connections.

In a documentary report published recently by journalist Abdulkadir Isse, it was revealed that some Somali officials maintain family and business connections with Al-Shabaab, involving transactions that could be linked to money laundering.

The Deputy Minister of Information, Abdirahman Yusuf Omar, popularly known as 'Al Adala', never reported to the government security that his paternal uncle, Yahye Ahmed Mohamud, who shared a room with him, has been the deputy head of Al-Shabaab’s suicide unit, the journalist exposed.

"Yahye not only was Al Adala’s roommate at the Yaqshid’s Cocacola neighborhood but has been a constant visitor at Al Adala’s new house property bought at the Waberi district following the 2021 violent election in Mogadishu,” Mr. Isse, who covers the military court for the Somali National Army radio, said.

The information was first revealed by recent defectors from the militant group who gave extensive interviews to the investigators of the military court handling Al-Shabaab cases.

The documentary report was removed from Facebook a week after it was published, but it remains online on other platforms. The journalist was also blocked from state media channels, and his access to the ministry was suspended in apparent retaliation for his revealing report.

Mogadishu has witnessed the highest number of suicide explosions by Al-Shabaab terrorists compared to other regions of the country, as shown by estimates from the national police. But the police spokesperson, Abdifatah Hassan, says it remains hard for them to identify those who sneak suicide bombers into the capital.

"Since 2022, we have been receiving reports that Al-Shabaab engages a high number of newly recruited suicide bombers. This is difficult to prevent as they are lone suicide bombers and nobody can stop them. The other challenge is it is difficult to identify their enablers in a city where close to three million people are residing,” the police spokesperson added.

Through its latest security alert for its citizens, the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu, for example, reminds U.S. citizens that terrorist attacks can occur with little or no warning against targets like airports, government buildings, and hotels. It urges, "Avoid crowds, notify friends and family of your safety, be aware of your surroundings.”

Somali police say this warning is due to the presence of a high number of lone suicide bombers in the capital. Al-Shabaab reportedly escalated the recruitment of suicide bombers and has displayed videos showcasing their graduation at least thrice since 2022. Nobody knows exactly their number and locations.

MONEY LAUNDERING

But Yahye Ahmed Mohamud, who also uses aliases Zakariye and Mowlid, is one of the most senior people involved in training and recruitment of such units.

Journalist Abdulkadir Isse says Yahye deputizes Mohamed Abdullahi from Murusade/Hawiye. But little is known about him yet.

Yahye is the brother of Al Adala’s mother, Hawo Ahmed Mohamud. Al Adala hails from the Habargedir/Saleban/Hawiye in the central Somalia region of Galgadud. A notary document shows Al Adala purchased a property house in Mogadishu’s Hawlwadag district and two others in Warta Nabadda and Waberi. These are part of several houses bought by Al Adala in Mogadishu and his hometown Adado in the Galgadud region, causing an initial fallout with Al-Shabaab but later resolved with the intervention of Yahye.

Questions arise as to how such amounts of money invested in property could be earned by Al Adala, who only became acting director general of the Ministry of Information in April 2017 and Deputy Minister in October 2020.

"A director general earns about $750 to $1,200 while a deputy minister earns between $2,500 to $3,000. That means a person with this income cannot purchase multiple houses,” Abdulkadir said.

The journalist reveals that contracts provided by Voice of America for re-broadcasting VOA radio and television content through state media channels, funds provided by the Chinese embassy for the development of the Somali National News Agency, and funds received from ATMIS, the U.S. Embassy, and the UK all went missing under Al Adala’s control.

"Al Adala, through his associates, diverts $55,000 from government budget allocated for state TV satellite rentals a year," Abdulkadir explains.

Horn Observer investigation also reveals that Al Adala is married to at least three women, two — his first and second — in Mogadishu and one currently living in Sweden as a refugee. The second wife, Fartun Sharif, has been appointed as the director of the Mother and Child Hospital Banadir under the Ministry of Health in Mogadishu, where aid provided by UN agencies and others to support women and children is massively diverted and stolen.

The investigation reveals that both Yahye and Al Adala’s brother, Abdikarin, were involved in easing tension between Al Adala and Al-Shabaab’s Zakawat unit, which demanded a huge amount from the several housing properties in 2022.

After a heated dispute, Al-Shabaab ordered tenants at Al Adala’s Hawlwadag three-storey apartment property to vacate.

After a heated dispute, Al-Shabaab ordered tenants at Al Adala’s Warta Nabadda three-storey apartment property (pictured above) to vacate, threatening to blow it down, as widely reported by local media in November 2022.

"The case was resolved with an agreement of payment. Abdikarin made the transaction on behalf of his brother Al Adala while Yahye played a role to ease the tension between his niece and the Zakawat unit,” Abdulkadir adds.

Ironically, at this time, Somali government forces and their allied Ma'awisley militia were at the height of their war with Al-Shabaab in central Somalia. Al Adala himself had to give weekly press briefings, boasting of government successes against the militants.

The state media journalist’s revelations also found that the money transaction invested in housing properties crossed Somalia’s borders. In Nairobi’s suburb of Pangani, Al Adala reportedly bought a new apartment block which is now open for rent.

Such cross-border transactions are not new. According to Kenya’s National Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment Report published in December 2023, Somalia poses the highest risk of being a source of terrorism financing entering Kenya through both legal and illegal channels. The report highlights the real estate sector as a prominent avenue for laundering money into Kenya.

"In fact, the real estate sector was identified as a medium-risk sector in the National Risk Assessment (NRA) due to the weak legal frameworks,” the Kenyan government report stated.

The Kenyan government report also angered Somali lawmakers. Member of Parliament Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame revealed that millions of dollars of stolen money are being laundered into Kenyan real estate.

"Young men employed by the government are now boasting to each other that they have bought real estate in Nairobi, Kenya, and Turkey. Where is this money coming from?” MP Abdishakur questioned during a press conference in Mogadishu on Tuesday. "The Somali people must know that there will be a day this money will be investigated and perpetrators held accountable."

The sources of the money entering Kenya are believed to be twofold. Criminal and terror groups, such as Al-Shabaab, ISIS, and pirates, seek to conceal their funds, while corrupt politicians use illegal proceeds to invest in real estate.