NO REPRIEVE: Two public officers, father and son jailed for corruption
By T. Roble
The list of public officials set to cool their heels in the freezer ballooned Thursday after a court in Mogadishu condemned three more officials to between one and ten years for raiding the public purse at the expense of the nation.
The ruling by Banaadir Regional Court adds to seven the number of government officials sent to jail in a week. Thursday ruling will also see a father and son spend some time together behind bars for robbing the country’s resources through illegal contracting.
The court found Guled Mohamed Ibrahim, the director of administration in the Ministry of Fisheries guilty of embezzling close to $140,000. Delivering the verdict Thursday, the judge said Ibrahim was guilty of mismanaging $105,907 contrary to article 241 of the Public Officers Act which criminalise theft of public funds.
FAMILY CONSPIRACY
The court added that Ibrahim could not account for $202,000 which was wired through his personal account. He was ordered to refund the state a sum of $137,907, a fine of $2,366, and forever banned from holding public office.
A second official, Ali Sheikh Abdi was charged and found guilty of engaging in illegal contracting with his company Maamus General Contracting and Services Company contrary to article 251. Abdi is the head of compliance at the office of the Accountant General. He will serve nine years in jail in addition to a fine of $3,549. The court also ordered him to refund the state $5,855.
In what illustrated a family conspiracy against the state, a father and son were sentenced by the same court to a combined jail term of four years for using a company headed by the son to illegally obtain contracts from the state.
Aweys Hassan Omar (father) who is an accountant in the ministry of information was found guilty by the court of theft of public resources, using public office to advance public interest and illegally engaging in the business with the state.
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The court sent him to jail for one and a half years in addition to a fine of $1,183. The son, Kadar Aweys Hassan was found guilty of illegally trading with the state violating the Breach of Contracts for Public Supplies (article 251). He is the manager of Alhabib Business Centre.
Kadar will be spending three years in jail alongside his father having paid a fine of $1,183.
The same court sentenced four officials in the Ministry of Health on Monday to jails terms with a minimum of five years and a maximum of 18 years after it found them guilty of abuse of office. The director-general in the health ministry Abdullahi Ali was sentenced to nine years in jail.