On Saturday, both conventional and social media outlets announced the arrest and detention of Somalia Minister for Transportation and Civil Aviation, Mohamed Abdullahi Oomaar.
The news piece went viral.
Some details embellished it so much that they were accepted on face value. The reports said Minister Oomaar was led from his office at Aden Adde airport blindfolded and in handcuffs. Reports said he was found guilty of massive corruption, and documents that could have only been leaked out by official sources surfaced.
According to a graphic presentation gundhig.com made of the corruption case the Minister was charged with, an initial sum of 1.5 million Dollars was found either missing, misappropriated or handled in a manner that contravened established procedures (see below).
The reports revealed that Minister Oomaar, among many other infringements, collected rents and other fees on books he printed for himself, and jogged the proceeds against unsanctioned costs that were also included elsewhere in the ministry budget such as travel fares, DSMs, and the like. Revenue realized exactly matched costs incurred.
Another violation of all ethics which had been linked to the minister was an agreement which he signed for the ministry with a company called Modern Technology. It came to light that he owned the company, signing the agreement on its behalf, with a ministry which he, as the minister, again signed on its behalf. In effect, he released money’s to himself on own signature. That company held 60% of the proceeds it collected for itself checking in the other 40% for the government.
The Minister, an audit to the ministry’s accounts for 2016 and 2017 uncovered that Minister Oomaar embezzled US$553,001.50 realized of rents of spaces leased out at the Aden Adde International Airport while US$901,449.30 was stolen using the Modern Technology company ruse.
According to a covering letter the Auditor General had written on 18 July 2018, summing up the results of an investigation his office carried out on the Ministry of Transportation and Civil Aviation covering 2016 and 2017, the Ministry was found in breach of articles 30 and 34 of Law No. 317 of 17/12/1962, which stipulates that no government revenue can be spent without, first, checking it into the proper, designated official accounts.
The detailed 7-page report which the letter introduced (see below) found the ministry at fault with almost all formal procedures governing the administration of funds, established financial procedures, Ministry of Finance directives and the draft and management of personnel at the ministry which did not only ignore but which defied all civil service employment clauses.
The Auditor General account collected affidavits of top officials at the ministry all of which attested to the widespread corruption and misappropriation rampant at Ministry most of which the Minister was directly culpable of.
Minister Oomaar held a press conference later in the day. He denied both the corruption charges and the arrest, lamely defending his actions.
He did not, however, deny the details of amounts of money spent as presented, stating that there was nothing really wrong with either anomaly.
His composure says different, tells another story. Body language belies contrived calm.
Following this latter appearance, conjecture on what really happened, again, went wild.
Some observers argued that the Minister knew the whereabouts of many skeletons, and neither the Prime Minister nor the president dared not keep him in custody for long.
“The Minister was privy to who held licenses, how they were obtained, what fees were charged, what greasing money was paid of what, and much more,” they said.
Others pointed out, above could not compare to the sums of money dished out to varying national and ‘international’ aviation officials to smooth the way for a quick Somalia takeover of the Somalia/Somaliland airspace and the management of its revenues – and equal amounts disappearing into own, foreign accounts.
“Somalia would not have been able to assume sole responsibility of airspace management despite agreements it entered with Somaliland at which signature the international community witnessed without greasing the right palms,” they stated, adding that “revenues expected far outweighed sums of money and other ‘concessions’ passing under the table”.
This latter group allege that both the President and the Prime Minister sanctioned everything it took to relocate airspace management to Mogadishu. The speed with which it was implemented took many by surprise at the time.
The Minister, in the meanwhile, vents his frustration on the Aviation personnel he and ICAO connived to dump at the airport where nobody would know how they fared.
READ ALSO: Aviation personnel quartered at Mogadishu airport scared of government bullying, punitive measures
Whatever the case is, that corruption which was committed at such a macabre, brazen way goes unpunished says much for itself. That the Minister was called to explain himself, at best, and case hushed and pushed under the carpet so speedily as soon as it happened, too, indicates how higher up the corruption rot, followed by cover-ups, has pervaded in Somalia.
