Hargeysa, Somaliland, July 29, 2006 (SL Times) – Donor assistance for Somalia, estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars annually, has reportedly been abused by the top leaders of the Somali Transitional Government (TFG).

According to authenticated documents obtained by Somaliland Times, TFG president Abdillahi Yusuf Ahmed and Premier Ali Mohamed Geedi have used a significant portion of the financial aid given to Somalia in the last two years to promote their own personal political interests.

Millions of dollars were believed to have been diverted to personal accounts through the Somali money transfer system (Hawala). The aid included cash grants given to the TFG after its formation in 2004 at Mbagathi, Kenya, and funds released for some relief and rehabilitation projects. Most of this aid was donated by rich Arab Gulf countries and the EU.

A good example of the wide-spread corruption in the TFG Administration is reflected by Ali Geedi’s withdrawal of one million dollars from the account of the “Somali Republic” A/c no – 1074917000107 held with the Jeddah branch of National Commercial Bank on 13 th October 2005. This money was transferred on Geedi’s instructions to an account held by Dahabshiil Money Transfer Company representative in Jeddah with the same bank.

An investigation conducted by the Somaliland Times reveals that the money was used for the purchase of two villas for Abdillahi Yusuf and Ali Mohamed Geedi in Nairobi.

In another money transaction Mr. Geedi orders Dahabshiil representative to transfer allocations totaling 428,000 (Four hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars) for four beneficiaries in three different locations. Three hundred thousand dollars was to go to Dahabshiil Jowhar, while Mohamed Ali Noor (Americo) was to receive one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Of the remaining eight thousand dollars Ismail Mohamud Hurre received five thousand in Jeddah and the rest went to Abdulatif Mohamoud Abdi also in Jeddah.

Source: Somaliland Times