Somalia’s Attorney General names seven government officials suspected of corruption. It is part of an ongoing process in which the Office of the Attorney General, Sulayman Mohamoud, filed cases against officials at the Banadir Regional Court.
Mogadishu, SOMALIA. By Dalmar:
While carrying out its legal duties, the Office of the Attorney General of Somalia has submitted charges at the Banadir Regional Court against seven defendants. It accuses them of embezzlement, diversion of public funds, theft of public assets and falsification of government documents.
The press statement from the Attorney General’s Office stated that the defendants worked in government offices such as the Ministry of Finance, the Immigration and Naturalization Directorate of Somalia (IND) and the Auditor General’s Office.
The accused, all absent, are as follows:
- Osman Hassan Osoble, Deputy Director General of the IND
- Jafar Mohamed Ahmed, General Director of the Department of Revenue at the Ministry of Finance
- Abdikafi Hassan Mohamed, Director of Administration & Finance at the IND
- Mohamed Hussein Nageye, the former officer in charge of obtaining visa extensions at the IND
- Abdihakim Abdullahi Abdi, a former adviser to the Director General of the IND
- Abdalla Mohamed Ahmed, Director of IT at the Office of the Auditor General
- Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed, an officer in the Department of Foreign & Visa Extension of the IND
The Court notified the defendants to appear in the Court within 30 days. They are called to defend themselves against the charges brought by the Attorney General’s Office.
July charges
In early July, the Attorney General, Suleiman Mohamud Mohamed, publicly disclosed the identities of 18 Somali government officials reportedly involved in corrupt practices. Authorities arrested nine of them, while the others were at large at the time of writing.
The prosecutor requested the Court to defer the trial and hearings for all the accused individuals. He cited multiple charges against them, including misappropriation of property, document forgery, embezzlement, and theft of public funds. Moreover, they allegedly abused public office and neglected their duties.
Fleeing officials
In June, the Somali Digest reported that high-ranking government officials accused of corruption allegedly escaped from Mogadishu in the wake of impending arrest warrants.
Sources within law enforcement have suggested these officials were tipped off about their impending arrests. Concerningly, they were able to safely exit from the capital city. The fact that these officials could abscond under such circumstances casts an alarming light on the integrity of the nation’s legal and law enforcement institutions.
