Mogadishu (Commentary) — In a speech for Somali soldiers being trained in Turkey President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud claimed that he had never had a tough time even during the civil war. “I have never failed to put food on the table for my family but I am not wealthy. I don’t own properties” said President Mohamud.
Is that an important lesson to impart when the public record of President Mohamud conveys a different message?
President Mohamud is not judged by what he did before 2012 when was involved in rebuilding educational institutions in Mogadishu. He is judged on what he did between 2012 and 2017. In this context his record shows rampant corruption (sale of public properties until Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke formed a committee to protect public assets); the authorisation of an American lawyer to retrieve assets of Somalia frozen in foreign banks (the lawyer is awaiting trial for a plot to steal Somalia assets), to share but two examples.
President Mohamud and his immediate family members own properties and business interests in Mogadishu. As the capital of Somalia Mogadishu still carries the indignity of being a city where historic dispossession of citizens is still viewed as a badge of honour. The Investigations into illegal sale of public properties under President Mohamud’s watch urged in 2019 by the Financial Governance Committee as benchmarks of progress in institutional reforms have been abandoned by the previous government for fear that it could be accused of targeting President Mohamud for political reasons. President Mohamud is the wealthiest Somali politician alive. Some of the money retrieved by agents President Mohamud appointed had been deposited in a Turkish bank.
Thankfully, the United Nations alerted Somalis to a plot to steal Somalia assets — that is nearly one year after former Puntland President Abdirahman Farole called for the International Community to prevent President Mohamud’s government from claiming ownership of Somalia assets in foreign banks. The 2020 indictment of the American lawyer appointed by President Mohamud brought to light the risk of misusing the sovereignty of Somalia to damage the national interest.
It is worth noting that the Office of the Auditor General did not publish annual report during the first term of President Mohamud (2012-2017).
Instead of praising himself for being a capable breadwinner, President Mohamud should have promised his audience commitment to resisting the temptation to enrich his relatives or hangers-on from the coffers of a poor and war battered nation state.
Views expressed in this article reflect the position of the writer.
You must be logged in to post a comment.