Corruption Allegations raised against Somali Finance Minister
Mogadishu, Somalia (SOMALI AGENDA) – New allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement have surfaced against Somalia’s long-term Finance Minister Hussein Abdi Halane. The new accusations which center on half a million dollars’ worth of a new house which the finance minister and his wife Nimo Ali Yassin bought in a Washington DC suburb raise concerns that public finances in Somalia are being used for private purposes as the country faces myriad economic and security challenges.
Hussein Abdi Halane a key ally and relative of Somalia’s powerful former Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Farah Sheikh Abdulqadir has previously been accused of corruption by United Nations Monitors despite earning the confidence and support of the International Donors for putting in place a new Public Financial Management mechanism.
According to documents seen by SOMALI AGENDA, Minister Hussein Abdi Halane and his wife paid $289,200.00 on March 7th, 2012 and additional $150, 000.00 on November 10th, 2014 towards the mortgage of the new house. Both dates correspond to the periods Hussein Abdi Halane was the Somali Finance Minister.
Somalia’s Financial Institutions and Political leadership have often been accused of gross corruption and graft by the United Nation’s Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group in the past. According to reliable sources, SOMALI AGENDA has learned the new documents against Hussein Abdi Halane were strategically leaked by members of the United Nation’s Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group ahead of their planned report on the country.
Hussein Abdi Halane is expected to retain his position as Somalia’s Fiance Minister in the Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke’s upcoming cabinet.
