Somalia AG widens probe on corruption as hundreds of thousands of aid money unaccounted

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Somalia AG widens probe on corruption as hundreds of thousands of aid money unaccounted

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) Somalia Attorney General, Saleban Mohamed Mohamud on Saturday issued a stern warning to government officials and their alleged allies in what he termed as a widening probe on public corrupt deals committed recently to loot f

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Somalia AG, Saleban Mohamed Mohamud speaks during a press conference in Mogadishu, on Saturday 16 May, 2020. (PHOTO: Horn Observer).

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) Somalia Attorney General, Saleban Mohamed Mohamud on Saturday issued a stern warning to government officials and their alleged allies in what he termed as a widening probe on public corrupt deals committed recently to loot funds meant to fight against Coronavirus.

In a rare press conference, the AG said more than 20 Ministry of Health officials were arrested, several bank accounts frozen while the police seized substantial evidences including fake receipts, payment slips, cheques and fake deals.

"The Office of the Attorney General (AG) has obtained a corruption case which started from the Ministry of Health and later spread to other Ministries and Government Offices. After investigations, the Office of AG has seized cheques, payment slips, receipts of payments created to loot public funds among other evidences," AG Mohamud said.

"We've detained more than 20 officials including directors within the Health Ministry, heads of government departments and project coordinators, consultants and staff from private firms working with Ministry of Health," He adds.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF AID MONEY MISSING

The revelations came following the arrest of the Director General of the Ministry of Health, Abdullahi Hashi and the Ministry's Director of Finance, Mohamud Mohamed Bule in early April after the officials could not account for hundreds of thousands of aid money that was meant to fund and support the Coronavirus quarantine facility in Mogadishu in a time when dozens of people are dying of the virus everyday, a disclosure that will increase disquiet among international donors who continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the aid and development programmes in Somalia.

The April arrests went even further, according to the AG, with other senior officials either suspended or taken into police custody. Those arrested now include a dozen senior officers working in the health, nutrition and maternity departments of the Ministry of Health as well as managers of private companies suspected to have aided the looting scheme.

But the AG says the probe is now leading to other offices as the traces of the stolen assets and analyze of the financial data point fingers to other government officials.

"The AG's Office is also investigating other Ministries and officials whom, according to our belief, have squandered public funds. I wish to assure the Somali people that we will soon catch them," AG Mohamud vowed.

The AG's announcement came as new investigations are set to open into allegations of missing funds implicating the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Sadik Warfa over the recently launched 'Baxnaano Program", a government-led project that attempts to provide cash transfers as an income support to the poorest families in 21 Districts throughout the country. The program is supported by World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF under the funding from World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

HORN OBSERVER