Abdullahi Mohamed Ali, the Director General of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, was taken into custody by Somali police forces on Friday on suspicion of corruption and misuse of government property.
Although specific trial dates have not yet been made public, the office of the Attorney General confirmed that Ali would be brought before the court to answer for these allegations. Allegations of widespread public corruption plagued President Mohamud’s first term. As a result, the
president supported legislation earlier in May to increase accountability and transparency in the administration of Somalia’s financial resources. The recently passed laws, which target public corruption specifically, were approved by a cabinet led by Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre.
Somalia consistently scores poorly in the Corruption Perceptions Index, a yearly study published by Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International, underscoring the country’s ongoing battle with corruption. Somalia held the regrettable spot at the bottom of the index for 13 years
straight, from 2007 to 2020. It briefly trailed Syria and Sudan in this dubious distinction in 2021. However, Somalia was once again identified as the most corrupt nation in the world in the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), with a pitiful score of just 12 out of 100. President
Mohamud dissolved the Judicial Service Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission by executive order in October of last year. He instructed parliament to name new committees, claiming the selection process was against the provisions of the provisional constitution.
He abolished both the Federal Boundaries Commission and the National Independent Elections Commission in November, acting in the same manner. The government recently intensified its anti-corruption efforts by starting to inspect government offices.
The goal is to promote an environment of openness and accountability among government employees. The absence of strong institutions, widespread corruption within the police and security forces, a lack of regulation, market competition, difficulties with land administration,
and problems with revenue collection are just a few of the long-standing problems that contribute to instability and economic stagnation, according to a detailed analysis of corruption in Somalia.
The country is still reeling from the collapse of state institutions in 1991, an event that enabled patronage networks to take control of the economy and perpetuate a climate of corruption.
