UN report cites massive corruption in Somali gov't
Published: July 17, 2012 Updated 5 hours ago
By JASON STRAZIUSO - Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya - A scathing report written for the U.N. Security Council
says that systematic misappropriation, embezzlement and outright theft of
taxpayer funds have become a system of governance in Somalia.
The nearly 200-page report lists numerous examples of money intended for
Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) going missing, saying that
for every $10 received, $7 never made it into state coffers.
The report, written by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea and
obtained by The Associated Press Monday, says government revenues aren't
even clear: The Ministry of Finance reported revenues of $72 million in
fiscal year 2011, while the accountant general reported revenues of $55
million.
A report commissioned by the World Bank published in May similarly found
that 68 percent of TFG revenues in 2009-10 were unaccounted for.
"The Monitoring Group's own investigations confirmed the involvement of
senior TFG officials in the misappropriation of millions of dollars of
domestic revenues and foreign aid," it said.
The report further said that the political will to enact reforms "is lacking
in the highest echelons of government."
"Nothing gets done in this government without someone asking the question
... 'What's in it for me?'" the report quoted a senior government official
as saying.
Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali condemned the allegations linking
his office to corruption, calling the allegations "absolutely and
demonstrably false."
Corruption has flourished inside the Somali government for years.
Somalia hasn't had a fully functioning government since 1991. Armed militias
have claimed power in Mogadishu until last August, when African Union and
Somali government troops pushed the radical Islamist al-Shabab militant
group out of the capital.
The weak, U.N.-backed government barely operates outside of Mogadishu. Its
U.N. mandate expires Aug. 20, and the international community is working
with Somali leaders to appoint a new parliament and elect a new president
before then.
Because the government was not voted in by Somali citizens, the public has
only few mechanisms to hold officials to account for misused funds. The U.N.
hopes to transition the country to a more representative form of government,
but nationwide or even regional elections appear to be years away.
Somali leaders are finalizing a council of elders and powerbrokers that is
tasked with naming a new parliament within the next month. That parliament
will then vote on a new president.
The monitoring group report noted that some current Somali leaders are
calling for an extension of the U.N. mandate, which it said is symptomatic
of "perverse corruption and the wholesale misappropriation of public
financial resources." The TFG's mandate originally expired last August, but
the U.N. granted a one-year extension.
The report said that some government officials have tried to introduce
greater transparency and accountability into the government's finances, but
that the political will to enact reforms does not exist in the highest ranks
of government.
The famine in Somalia last year - which killed an estimated 100,000 people -
was also not immune to corruption. The report said government officials and
militias acted as gatekeepers in camps that held tens of thousands of
internally displaced Somalis, diverting assistance and preventing an
effective aid monitoring, the report said.
Read more here:
http://www.macon.com/2012/07/16/2096046/un-report-cites-massive-corruption.h
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Received on Tue Jul 17 2012 - 09:05:05 EDT
