Somalia
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Somali court drops corruption charges against government officials, sentences others for corruption


Thursday September 28, 2023

Mogadishu (HOL) - The Banadir Regional Court on Thursday dropped corruption charges against five government officials from the immigration, tax and labour offices following weeks of televised trials in Mogadishu.

Two former directors of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Abdullahi Mohamed Ali and Mohamed Adde Mukhtar Abdirahman, were among the officials acquitted of all corruption charges. Additionally, the court cleared Adan Mohamed Abdi, the director of the visa office, Abdiwahid Muhsin Ibrahim, an employee of the foreigner licensing department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and Abduqadir Abdi Socdal, the cashier of the Central Bank at the Aden Adde Airport.

The chairman of the court, Salah Ali Mohamud Dabaan, announced that six other defendants were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment after finding them guilty of corruption charges.

The officials found guilty of corruption are as follows:

  1. Abdullahi Mohamud Cosoble, who served as the director of the foreigners department of the Immigration and Naturalization Directorate (IND), has been sentenced to one year in prison.
  1. Omar Moalim Noor, the deputy director of the Foreigners Affairs Department of the Immigration and Naturalization Directorate (IND), has been sentenced to one year in prison.
  1. Sabir Hassan Abdinur, the head of the visa verification department of the Immigration and Naturalization Directorate (IND), has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison.
  1. Abdirahman Abdikarin Ibrahim, the head of the foreigner licensing department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, has been sentenced to nine years in prison and permanently suspended from holding public office.
  1. Abukar Mohamed Ali, who previously managed the tax office at the Ministry of Finance, Aden Adde Airport, has been sentenced to eight years and permanently suspended from government employment.
  1. Mohamed Aden Abdullahi, the manager of the Central Bank at the Aden Adde Airport, has been sentenced to eight months in prison.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre have launched a high-profile campaign against corruption, signing multiple anti-corruption directives and taking action against individuals involved in corruption-related crimes.