Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has distanced himself from a U.N. report accusing him of involvement in a conspiracy to divert millions of dollars in stolen and frozen Somali assets overseas.

“We have demonstrated our commitment to progressive public financial management in many ways, including appointing the Financial Governance Committee (FGC),” President Mohamud said in a statement, a copy of which was emailed to Anadolu Agency late Wednesday.

“The FGC released its first progress report in May highlighting significant public financial management achievements,” he added.

A report by the Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group, a U.N. group mandated to check on Somalia’s compliance with existing U.N. sanctions, has accused Mohamud, former foreign minister Fawzia Adam and American law firm Shculman Rogers of conspiring to divert recovered Somali assets.

The 37-page report suggested that President Mohamud had misused his office and power for personal gains.

Somalia slid into civil war in 1991 with the ouster of the long-standing military regime of Siad Barre.

The country’s funds and assets abroad were frozen, or stolen.

Hundreds of millions of dollars believed to have been stashed by former government officials went unaccounted for.

President Mohamud said he remained committed to recover all Somali assets abroad.

“The federal government continues to seek the most effective means to recover significant stolen and frozen Somali assets,” he said in the statement.

“At present due to the capacity limitations of Somali institutions and lack of data records, the federal government cannot easily identify either the amount or the locations of Somali assets,” added the president.

“Recovering these assets is extremely complex and requires specialist support,” he said.

Mustapha Hassan, a Nairobi-based regional expert, said the Somali leader’s track record has been commendable so far.

“If the report is correct Mohamud’s name will have been tarnished overnight and this is likely to affect the country’s relation with the international community,” Hassan told AA.

Somali’s economy largely depends on the aid from the international community and donor countries.

 

Comments

comments