The accusations for corruption
and abetting terrorism against the federal government gained momentum and
credence for the discovery of substantive evidence. In 36 page report
dated July 2014, the United Nations’ Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group (UN-SEMG)
presents “secret” contracts, official communications, and instructions incriminating
principally President Hassan Sheikh
Mohamud and former Foreign Minister Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam for conniving the withdrawal
and mismanagement of Somali Assets kept safely
under the custody of foreign institutions since the collapse of the Somali
State in 1991. The basis of the
accusations is the improper relationship between the President and the US Law
Firm through a predatory and attorney-client contract, the role played by two private
intermediaries of Somali origin- Abdiaziz Hassan Giyaajo Amalo and Muse Haji
Mohamed Ganjab, breach of separation of power, abuse of presidential power to
discredit the integrity of former Governor Yussur Abrar, and use of public funds to defend former governor,
Abdusalam H. Omer. The findings of 2013
and 2014 UN-SEMG reports impair the leadership credibility of the federal
government in peacebuilding and statebuilding in Somalia.
President Hassan bought into one of two old
irresistible but dirty and tricky financial transactions that have tantalized
his predecessors. The two deals are the Printing of New Somali Currency and the
Recovery of Overseas Assets. It was an ill-considered priority and mission taken
either for ill-advice, greed, or brazenness.
The fundamental problem with the
two deals is the absence of economic, political, and legal framework and institutional
capability, all necessary conditions to credibly and properly undertake those
deals as well as of the concerted pernicious efforts by top leaders of Somali
Governments to circumvent the distinct role of the Central Bank. In response to
an inquiry about my knowledge of frozen overseas assets, I advised the federal
government against undertaking such enterprise before the institutional
capacity of the CBS and ability of the federal government to enforce the rule
of law are satisfactory at least in South Central Somalia. Receiving secret
funds provides incentives for misappropriation and inflated claims for
compensation.
For disclosure, I refused twice
to sign on these two deals and requested the respect of the fiduciary
responsibility of the Governor of the Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) on behalf
of the people of Somalia, which is a critical element for statebuilding in
Somalia. The reaction was summary dismissal and transfer of CBS responsibilities
to the ministers of finance, foreign affairs, national planning and
international cooperation, and United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The claim that De La Rue, a UK Banknotes Printer,
owes US$ 14
millions as a recoverable asset belies available information because
De La Rue has been looking ways to get paid for the Somali Banknotes printed to the CBS and in its warehouse since 1990. De La Rue
acted always carefully and responsibly.
Since 2000, the issue of
recovery of the overseas assets of Somalia has been the credential and
advantage claimed by the last governor of the collapsed regime of Mohamed Siad
Barre in 1991, Mr. Ali Abdi Amalo for deserving to be appointed as Governor of CBS because he had the
information of whereabouts of the frozen Somali financial assets. The implicit
message has been that the Asset Recovery will yield huge financial pie-cutting
to top leaders.
Sadly, emails quoted in UN SEMG
report corroborate rumors within the Somali Community that the asset recovery
transaction has stirred up feud within Amalo family and between Former Prime
Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon and President Hassan. In addition, in another
email, former Presidential Special Envoy to US, Abukar Arman, has been attacked,
most probably for refusing to be part of the initial contract between the
Transitional Federal Government of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Shulman
Rogers.
So far, it appears that the
principal beneficiaries of Asset Recovery Transaction are the foreign firms and
their Somali associates while the Somali people could face future debt burden. Current
and Former Finance Ministers Hussein Abdi Halane and Mohamud Hassan Soleiman,
former and current governors of CBS Yussur Abrar and Bashir Isse Ali emerged as
whistleblowers and honorees.
It is important to note that
the use of the headline “recovery of Somali Assets” is misleading. According
to United Nations Convention against corruption and the World Bank Guidelines,
Asset Recovery which consists of tracing, freezing, confiscation, and repatriation
of Assets refers to the process of recovering the proceeds of corruption hidden
in foreign countries. On the contrary, Somalia’s Assets have been frozen by the
Western institutions immediately after the collapse of the Somali State for
good reasons that exist until today. For example, the US Government sold the
Somali Embassy residence in Washington, D.C. and kept the proceeds in an
interest bearing account under the control of US Treasury Department.
The necessary condition to
reclaim Somalia’s overseas assets was the emergence of national government that
legitimately represents the people and controls the country of Somalia and that
has earned the recognition of the international community in accordance with Article
1 of Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. As the CBS
capacity permits, the reclaim of overseas financial assets is the
responsibility of the CBS of Somalia in cooperation with the Ministries of
Finance and Foreign Affairs under the supervision of the Prime Minister,
Parliament, and President for transparency and accountability.
The aggressive focus on
Overseas Assets by the federal government of Somalia without transparent and
accountable political, legal, and administrative processes has stoked public
outcry for corruption and possibly attracted the attention of UN for
investigation. Rationally, the highest priority and challenge of the Federal
Government for earning domestic and international credibility was to manage
transparently and properly the US$ 216 million dollars appropriated in 2014 fiscal
budget.
Another issue not considered in
the asset recovery process is “to whom the overseas assets belong?” In general,
the pre-1991 CBS has been carrying out both Central Bank and Commercial Bank
functions. Therefore, there may be claims by third parties against overseas
assets. The inclusion of gold and hard currency Reserve in the asset recovery
is ludicrous and unacceptable.
The UN-SEMG report notes that Shulman
Rogers declared the recovery of US$ 12,326,971.63 of which US$ 9,001,092.00 has been
deposited in Agricultural Bank in Turkey. The Difference of US$
3,325,879.63 was pocketed by Schulman Rogers for 11% fee, reimbursement
of expenses, bonus, retention fee, and payments to third party vendors. The
account of separate amount of US$ 3,878,893.50 identified for recovery has
not been disclosed. In addition, the CBS wired from Mogadishu US$ 982, 913.38
to Shulman Rogers for payment of the report that defended former Governor of
the CBS Abdusalam Omer from corruption accusations
contained in July 2013 UN-SEMG report.
Under the terrorism accusation,
as preliminary notice, the report notifies the procurement of Arms to Al Shabab
Leader Ahmed Godane and President of Galmudug State, General Abdi Qaybdid with
the knowledge of President Hassan and involvement of Hoden Global Services. This
revives an alliance relation between Al Shabab and the Federal Government.
On August 12, Jeremy
Schulman of Law Firm Shulman Rogers held
a press
conference in Minneapolis, MN characterizing the accusations in the UN-SEMG
report false and malicious, and ragingly
attacked Jarat Chopra, Chairman of the UN team . In my opinion, the press conference did not
help the case of the federal government and provided new ammunition to UN-SEMG
by declaring the recovery of assets totaling US$ 33 million and failing to
provide satisfactory rebuttal. The
knowledge of the absence of functional Central Bank was sufficient red flag to
not enter into Power of Attorney contract with President Hassan.
Mr.
Mohamud M Uluso
mohamuduluso@gmail.com
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