Leaked Monitoring group's
report sheds light on widespread corruptionon by senior TFG officials
The monitoring group's report outlines how TFG
misappropriated funds and the general mismanagement of passport
production and key revenue generating authorities including
Mogadishu Port and Airport Authority and funds received from
leading financial companies and telecom operators.
Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan
The report alleges that Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan has been looting
and awarding contracts to his cronies since he was appointed
as Finance Minister and deputy Prime Minister under the former
PM Sharmarke’s TFG.
The report alleges that Sharif Hassan was involved in misappropriating
$3 million dollars donated by Oman government back in April,
2009. Similarly Sharif Hassan received $1 million dollar kickback
from SKA Air Logistics, a company he awarded management services
contract for Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport.
Sharif Hassan and his business partner Sharif Ahmed Ba’alawi,
General Gaafow, the Director of Immigration and Naturalization
and Ambassador Abdulqadir Sheikhey, the Consul General in Dubai
are believed to own shares in Mondial Technology Information,
a company that was awarded Somali Passports production contract.
Sharif Hassan also negotiated with Sudanese government to print
Somali banknotes of Sh. So. 1,000, 2000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000
and 100,000 that is worth more than $150 million dollars.
With Respect to electronic passport the report
made this damaging allegation that even members of Alshabab
were issued passport while some others were issued diplomatic
passports “Fraud and corruption became rampant in the passport
business, with multiple passports being issued to the same individuals
under false identities and foreigners obtaining Somali passports
thanks to the intervention of senior TFG officials. Members
of Al-Shabaab, including at least one senior leader, have allegedly
received new passports, and the Monitoring Group has confirmed
that one of Somalia’s most notorious pirate leaders received
a diplomatic passport in his own name with the full knowledge
of senior TFG officials”.
The prime Minister Abdiweli Ali Gaas
Monitoring group report provided evidence how the Prime Minister
regularly sends letters to custom authorities requesting tax
exemptions for companies or individual that he claims provide
service to TFG. The report also alleges that Prime Minister
Abdiweli and former Prime Minister Farmaajo administration received
$15 million from UAE government but the PM denies receiving
themoney from UAE government and alleges Farmaajo’s government
misappropriated $3.5 million of the $10 million received from
UAE.
The report further alleges that another million from the Government
of South Sudan is unaccounted and the Prime Minister’s
office took its cut. The report alleges that “In early
2012, South Sudan donated, through Price Waterhouse Coopers,
US$1 million to support TFG reconciliation efforts in Somalia’s
newly liberated areas. A senior TFG official confirmed to the
SEMG that the TFG did indeed receive the US$1 million from South
Sudan.59 According to internal TFG documents obtained by the
SEMG, the PM instructed the Finance Ministry to disburse the
funds directly to individual government officials, MPs and political
figures, including US$121,700 to his own office. No further
information is available as to what these individuals did with
the money, or whether any of these funds were in fact spent
on reconciliation efforts.”
The report alleges that the three top in the cockpit
of the TFG leadership, that is the president, the speaker and
PM are said to have misappropriated almost 30 percent of the
TFG revenues.
Former Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi farmajo
Prime Minister Abdiweli alleges that the former Prime Minister
Abdullahi farmajo mismanaged $3.5 Million of the $10,000,000
received from the UAE “The Monitoring Group has confirmed
that the UAE donated US$10,000,000 to the Farmaajo administration
and US$5,000,000 to the Abdiweli administration. Lastly, TFG
PM Abdiweli Ali informed the SEMG that the US$15 million from
the UAE had been wrongly reported. He noted that in 2011 the
Farmaajo Administration had received US$10,000,000 from the
UAE, but only deposited US$6,500,000 to the Central Bank, and
that his administration had received US$5,000,000, which was
entirely deposited into the Central Bank account. The SEMG could
not reach the Central Bank to confirm these claims and the Prime
Minister could not understand why his Ministry of Finance had
reported a higher amount than that registered by the Central
Bank of Somalia”.The Monitoring group did not interview
the former prime Minister about this allegation
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed
The report also implicates the president and the speaker in
the 3 Million dollar the Government of Oman donated to the Somali
national Security Agency and that the president may have benefited
through a third party clan associate. The report states that
“One of the recipients of Omani funds identified by Ambassador
Sheikhey was A.S.M.J General Trading, a company managed by Abbas
Sheikh Mohamed ‘Jamalo’ (also spelt Jimale), a Dubai
based Kenyan-Somali businessman and close clan relation of President
Sheikh Sharif Hawiye/Abgaal/Harti/Agoonyar). According to current
and former TFG officials, Abbas routinely advances funds to
the TFG, and provides meticulous accounts when he wants reimbursement.50
One of his primary services has been the provision of dry food
and daily subsistence to the TFG security forces”“Moreover,
of the 30 per cent of revenues that the TFG can actually account
for, almost one quarter is channelled through the offices of
the three principal leaders: the President, Prime Minister and
Speaker of Parliament. In 2011, these three offices spent more
than US$12.6 million, representing almost 23 per cent of total
government expenditure -- almost as much as was spent on the
TFG security forces (US$13.4 million) or the expenditure of
all Ministries combined (US$15.4 million)
Puntland President Farole
President Farole is alleged to have benfitted the awarding of
contracts to foreign corporations in violation of UNSC arms
embargo. The report alleges that “Africa Oil, through its
subsidiaries and affiliates, has engaged in a mutually beneficial
relationship with a Somali security sector institution, namely
the Puntland Exploration Security Unit (ESU). For this purpose,
the company has contracted the services of a private security
company, Pathfinder Corporation. 2. In many respects, including
its exceptional transparency, Pathfinder’s operations in
Puntland arguably represent ‘best practices’ for private
securitycompanies inSomalia. However, in the assessment of the
Monitoring Group, the company’s ‘temporary issue’
of military equipment to the ESU, as well as Africa Oil’s
payment of ESU salaries (through its subsidiary, Canmex) constitute
violations of the general and complete arms embargo on Somalia
imposed by Security Council resolution 733 (1992) and elaborated
by subsequent resolutions.
Additionally,
President Farole gave contracts to foreign security
firms that violate the UNSC arms embargo.
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