File Photo/Somali Times
Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the UN described corruption as ‘insidious plague’ that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies, it diverts funds intended for development, undermines the ability of governments to provide basic services, feeds inequalities and injustice, and discourages foreign aid investment. According to Transparency International, Somalia has been at the bottom of the Corruption Perceptions Index, in other words, the most corrupt nation on earth. Corruption has started to exacerbate, which heralded the end of the transitional period and formation of the federal government of Somalia.
Read: Exclusive: Somalia President Hassan Sheikh intends to sell embassy properties
Read: Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh history of corruption 2012-2017
That was when the incumbent president Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud was first elected. Since then, the federal government has become the embodiment of grand corruption – the abuse of high-level power that benefits the few at the expense of the many, and causes serious and widespread harm to individuals and society. Unfortunately, the concomitant ills of corruption has not stopped at the federal institutions but permeated the social fabrics of the society, posing a real threat to the stability of the country.
Read: Why is Somalia an unfortunate country?
With the assistance of the international community, public sector reforms were introduced to combat corruption. In the same year, a joint Financial Management Board was put in place to ensure government and donor funds are both managed with transparency and accountability.
Read: Why is Somalia an unfortunate country?
Furthermore, in 2013, the federal government adopted a new Public Finance Management Policy (PFMP) in order to convince the donors that it is serious about establishing a financial system that is accurate and transparent. Unfortunately, the reforms were counterproductive because the top government officials were not honest about fighting corruption but acting contrary to that, which led to unprecedented misuse of power in the public sector. In July 2013, the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia accused government officials of misusing the central bank as their “patronage system” where 80% of the bank’s withdrawals were exploited for private motives for Hassan Sheikh and his cronies. As usual, the government rejected those accusations.
Read: Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh history of corruption 2012-2017
The fiasco led to the appointment of Abrar Yusuf to the governor of the central bank. Abrar immediately faced interference and intimidation to accept illicit deals that were infringement of the rules, which led to her resignation within three months. She announced her departure outside the country for security reasons. Abrar’s resignation was a big blow to president Mohamoud and his collaborators.
Read: Exclusive: Somalia President Hassan Sheikh intends to sell embassy properties
To appease the donors, government officials continued to undertake fake approaches in curbing corruption. In 2014, a number of initiatives were undertaken: Parliamentary Finance Committee to monitor withdrawals from the central bank was created; Public Procurement, Concessions and Disposal Act was passed; and the Office of the Auditor General for auditing all government institutions was also established. Furthermore, the government launched a public awareness campaign to curb corruption similar to Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud’s current rhetoric while he is allegedly involved in massive theft of public assets and worst forms of nepotism and patronage.
The Somali government of being involved in big dubious contracts associated with the management of ports and oil explorations. The companies identified were the Turkish company Favori, British Soma Oil and Gas Firm, and American Shulman Rogers Firm. Because of concerns raised by some donors such as the World Bank, the government agreed to either cancel those contracts or renegotiate to remove all unethical elements.
President Mohamoud’s infamous leadership in his first term was not confined to massive embezzlement and fraud. This negative mindset has incapacitated the federal government as well as its member states, creating a contentious atmosphere filled with distrust, enmity and rivalry.
Foreign entities, particularly the oil rich gulf countries are the biggest bankrollers of vote buying along with the endorsement of inept corrupt individuals in Somalia.
Given his bad record, Mohamoud’s re-election in 15 May 2022 was a stark fact of the magnitude of corruption in Somalia, how the governing institutions including the electoral system are so broken, and how the country is so susceptible to foreign influences.
The United Arab Emirates contributed to puppet Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud’s comeback, a prognostic of disaster that seems to be unfolding faster than anticipated. In the first year, the country is witnessing a replicate of his poor leadership and brazen corruption.
The role of the prime minister and his cabinet is undermined; the legislature and other institutions are also severely impaired; the major donors have halted crucial financial aid including the debt relief, all of which are a threat to the stability of the fragile nation. The top-down aid is not working for Somalia as the corruption in Villa Somalia is incorrigible. Empowering the member states seems to be the most reasonable option in building a stronger, transparent and accountable federal government in Somalia.
Somalia President Hassan Sheikh, focusing on employing his family, wife, daughter, sons, brothers, nephews, nieces, employing one’s own kids and close relatives and encouraged government officials to do the same.
Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud before he become president for the first time was a teacher and one of his wives used to sell petrol Km4 on the road in Mogadishu. Now Hassan and his family own properties in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Turkey, UAE and the EU. Hassan and his family are now multimillionaires according to sources Somali officials told Somali Times Hassan Sheikh’s net worth is over 500 million US dollars.