President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his associates are insincere about helping victims of drought in Somalia. They are only shedding crocodile tears while posting photo ops.
Mohamud and his group aim to obtain a slice of American pronounced aid for drought victims in the Horn of Africa and keep it to themselves. There is precedent for fund diversion and there is no indication this pattern is abating.
Mohamud’s record speaks volumes in support of this thesis. That record deserves a brief review.
Mohamud was Somalia’s president from 2012 to 2017. Corruption in the form of direct bribery was rampant.
Reports of graft were abundant according to numerous UN reports and mainstream media outlets in Mohamud’s first administration. I was skeptical of many of these reports until I spoke with Somali professionals directly.
When Somali professionals who wanted to contribute to Somalia’s reconciliation and reconstruction narrated direct experiences of Mohamud requesting a bribe, I was left with no option but to concur. I interviewed three Somalis who attested that Mohamud personally asked them for a bribe.
These three professionals narrated stories in the first person. I found the stories credible and compelling.
The identity of these Somalis is kept confidential to the extent possible for security reasons. One of them lives in Somalia full-time. The other two visit Somalia frequently.
The first one is a Senior Software Engineer in America. The engineer wanted to bring an advanced identity access control system to help the nation’s fledging immigration services, specifically the passport division. The intent was to enhance the authentication process. He said he met with Mohamud in 2013 in a hotel in America to pitch the idea. Mohamud was on tour to engage the Somali diaspora.
Mohamud told the engineer with a straight face to consider the project approved if he paid $7 million. President Mohamud provided the engineer with specific instructions for money transfer.
The engineer was shocked. He told me he was tongue-tied for a moment. He told me he internally asked himself, “Why would I want to talk to a head of state if I had that amount of cash on me”. The engineer told me he went on to say to himself that all he wanted to do was bring back his technical skills and expertise to help his birth nation.
He said he was shaking by the predicament of sitting across the table from the leader of a country, and the leader was asking him for a direct bribe. Moreover, the leader was demanding advance payment. The engineer was only asking Mohamud to champion the project. The project was going to help the country increase the value of its passport, so citizens can travel more and engage more with the world.
The engineer told me he didn’t anticipate a bribe request from President Mohamud. But he had to think quickly and formulate a response.
He said he proposed to Mohamud that he would make sure that the proceeds from the project will go to national coffers once the project was implemented and operational costs we’re deducted. The software engineer said that he thought for a moment he misunderstood President Mohamud. He thought Mohamud was referring to funds coming to the government. Mohamud clarified that he wanted the funds for himself and was not budging.
I recently followed up with the engineer for comments after Mohamud returned to the presidency. He said, “Mohamud and his friends are coming to eat, and they are starting with drought victims”.
The second person who attested to a direct bribery request from Mohamud during his first term served as a central banker. This person also narrated a credible story.
This person was part of a delegation of economics to Saudi Arabia. The person thought the reason for being included in the delegation was to sign off any item related to central bank activities.
At the end of the trip, this person was asked to sign a document that diverted nearly $16 million to a personal account in a bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The person thought there was paperwork mixed up. Instead of correct paperwork being provided, pressure from delegate members ensued. The senior leader of the delegation who was close to Mohamud demanded the document be signed at the behest of the president.
The central banker insisted on not to signed anything until a face-to-face conversation with President Mohamud. That required flight back to Mogadishu.
Mohamud ordered the central banker to sign the document upon meeting in Mogadishu. The central banker resigned and fled Somalia shortly after.
The third and final person who attested bribery with President Mohamud leads a nonprofit college in Mogadishu. This person wanted to purchase a large plot of real estate to construct a campus. It was a large piece of land that required a presidential champion.
In Somalia, all land is owned by the government until ownership is assigned to citizens. The common size for a plot of land is 20-by-20 meters. The land that the education leader wanted to purchase for college had many subplots.
This education leader went to Mohamud to get help to ease the purchase. A presidential endorsement for purchasing real estate for a nonprofit goes a long way with the possibility of reducing taxes or being waved altogether. The education leader was looking for support for a nonprofit education institution but was presented with a fleecing proposal.
The education leader passed all the gatekeepers and made it to Mohamud’s office. Mohamud asked him to deposit $150,000 in a preferred financial institution. The amount might seem small, and beneath the presidency, but it is significant for a nonprofit educational institution in Somalia. It is also a clear illustration of Mohamud’s drive to personally enrich himself regardless of the amount.
In America, Mohamud was implicated as a co-conspirator in a case involving the liquidation of frozen Somali national assets. America held $12.5 million of Somali national assets since 1991. Mohammed and his associates stole this money. Nearly $9 million went to Mohamud’s account in Turkey.
The attorney who represented Mohamud in the transaction had been indicted. Two other individuals who worked on behalf of Mohamud are under indictment as well.
Mohamud is only identified as a co-conspirator as it is customary not to identify a current or former head of state in criminal trials. Diplomatic sources conferred to me that this is one of the primary reasons that Mohamud has not set foot in America since the case went to trial.
When I visited Mogadishu, countless ordinary Somalis shared their belief that Mohamud committed vast malfeasance in his first term. Often, I rode with Taxi and Motor Bike drivers who pointed to high rises they believed Mohamud owned or co-owned.
When I pushed back and asked them how they know, the common response was that it could only be stolen public funds. They asked me how he could accumulate all that wealth in such a short time when his previous job was as a college instructor and an administrator.
The belief that financial graft was pervasive under Mohamud’s first stint as president of Somalia is considered common knowledge in Somalia. There is often no dispute in the assertion he directly engaged in this practice.
Now enter the expected drought bonanza by Mohamud and his group. One of the first actions Mohamud took was to name a drought envoy.
Drought impacted millions in Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia. Failed rain season is often cited as the sole cause. But climate change and conflicts significantly contribute to human destitution in the Horn of Africa. Hence, a new leader prioritizing drought seemed well-intended on the surface.
America is a major contributor to humanitarian aid in the Horn of Africa. America has also been entangled in a brutal war with a notorious terrorist group Al Shabab in Somalia. The United States largely prosecutes this war over the air with cruise missiles and drones. Casualties often include civilians and innocent bystanders.
The frequent tragic outcome has led to bad press and political headaches for successive administrations. The controversy started with George W. Bush. It continued during President Obama’s two terms in which President Biden served as Vice President.
Trump showed less concern as he thrived on media controversy. Trump described the entire continent of Africa as a “shithole”. Trump attacked Somali-Americans in the state of Minnesota. Trump ultimately ordered the withdrawal of troops from Somalia. Each episode provided him with wall-to-wall media coverage.
President Joe Biden defeated Trump and reserved the withdrawal of troops from Somalia. Biden wants media coverage to shift the focus from the war to humanitarian work led by United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
President Biden ordered budget allocation for this change of emphasis. Current funds allocation is estimated at $300 million for the entire region.
Mohamud and his associates are motivated by this fund. Diversion of funds intended for drought victims was the hallmark of Mohamud’s first term.
Abdullahi Nur who is commonly known as thirty years old with 30 million is a prime example. Nur was an assistant minister when he was given an expanded responsibility of leading the effort to assist drought victims in Mohamud’s first term. They are anticipating diverting funds from drought victims to enrich themselves.
At one time, almost 200 lorries with donated grains were diverted to the Bakaraha market and resold in the private market. It is a piece of common knowledge and accepted fact among residents of Mogadishu that this was a windfall for Nur and his collaborators.
Nur eventually built the Elite hotel. This glitzy hotel is in Mogadishu on the Indian Ocean water. A glass of watermelon juice costs $4, a price out of reach for most Somalis. There is no way a young man who lived abject poverty a few years before accumulated enormous wealth in a such short period without a rampant graft.
Nur later finagled himself into power and became Minister of Internal Security under Mohamed Rooble, the prime minister who administered the worst possible selection process in Somalia history. Nur became Rooble’s, right-hand man.
One of the first actions that Rooble and Nur took after Mohamud became president was to loot $9.6 million. Money was brought in from the UAE. This sum was intercepted by the Somali intelligence at the airport. Money was kept in the Central Bank of Somalia for four years while a court considered the matter.
Rooble and Nur along with the ambassador of UAE went to the bank and fetched the money four days after Mohamud became president. They took pictures with the money and circulated them on social media. President Mohamud did or said nothing to stop this daylight looting.
President Mohamud’s silence in this latest bank heist is consistent with his track record. This track record makes Mohamud cries to help drought victims crocodile tears.
A sensible leader would stop the loot and ensure at least some of that money reaches drought victims to provide immediate relief and deliver necessities. Instead, President Mohamud was all smiling while looting progressed in plain sight.
The victims of drought deserve American support. The cause is legitimate and worth American investment as a component of a comprehensive foreign policy.
However, President Mohamud and his associates are the wrong people to administer aid to drought victims. Moreover, they are the wrong partners and cannot be trusted with American tax dollars.
President Mohamud’s track record on bribery speaks for itself. Crocodile tears should not sway anyone. Efforts to help drought victims directly have better chances of saving lives.
One way of directly helping drought victims is to contribute to local humanitarian organizations. One example is the American Relief Agency for the Horn of Africa(ARAHA). ARAHA is an American-based organization with on-the-ground operations in the Horn of Africa including numerous locations in Somalia. Everyone can search and locate similar organizations and contribute directly. A dollar donated or contracted with these types of organizations will more likely reach a person affected by drought rather than President Mohamud of Somalia and his associates. Time is of the essence as these vulnerable populations hang by a thread.
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