File Photo/Somali Times
Somalia’s the Puntland state government strongly opposed the way the federal government of Somalia handled the Hajj this year.
Puntland has accused the federal government of committing corruption in the distribution of Hajj, which was widely condemned in a press release issued by the Puntland Ministry of Justice. Puntland has accused the Hasan Sheikh’s government of corruption in its share.
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“The Ministry of Justice of Puntland condemns the fraud, bias and corruption that the Ministry of Religion and Federal Endowment has made in the distribution, management and services of the Hajj,” said the statement from Puntland.
The ministry accused the federal government of Somalia of unfairly distributing the share of Hajj this year and giving Puntland administration 850 seats out of a total of 11,500.
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“It (the ministry) has appointed a smuggling committee that consists of the ministry’s employees who are close to the heads of the ministry, and their job is to collect the money from the pilgrims.”
Puntland has also accused the Ministry of Religion and Federal Endowments of taking over the services of Hajj companies providing pilgrims, which will have a positive impact on the quality of service, worship and life of pilgrims.
“The ministry did not conduct an open competition for Somali Hajj companies to compete in a fair and transparent manner so that pilgrims can get quality service. While the selected ministry took advance payments.
Puntland’s accusation comes at a time when the federal government of Somalia has announced that corruption in the Hajj service has been eliminated, and the price has been reduced.