Somalia condemns UN Monitoring Group, terms reports threat to state building

Somali government has rebuked the UN Monitoring Group for Somalia and Eritrea, UNMGES, for what it terms as an affront to the country’s development and assault on the citizens of Somalia.

In what could be the strongest indication of a protest to the UN sanctioned body, the government Tuesday while concluding a leadership forum in Mogadishu noted in a communiqué the reports by UNMGES were a form of witch-hunt and aimed at derailing efforts to state building.

“We note with a strong concern the conduct and actions of UNMGES specifically in targeting Somali citizens and blocking the process of state building,” read the communiqué in part.

The Forum brought together the country’s top leadership including the president, Prime Minister, Federal Parliament Speaker and leaders from regional states in the country.

The statement comes following campaigns by civil society, clergy and business community against the Monitoring Group reports which they noted have been used to malign individuals and destroy lives.

But the endorsement of this campaign by the country’s leadership is indicative of displeasure by Somalia over the annual reports by the group. The UNMGES was established by the UN Security Council to monitor and produce reports on Somalia and Eritrea in line with the resolution 2244 (2015).

The reports have in the past indicted senior government officials, politicians and business people of involvement in corruption, abetting violations of the arms embargo and links to the militant group Al-Shabaab.

But Somalia has come out fighting questioning the manner and objectivity of the group in data collection.

A 2015 UNMGES report singled out an individual, Mohamed Zubeyr whom it noted had killed himself in a suicide bomb in Garowe Puntland but it was later established he was not the one and he is currently a government employee.