The Verdict: Five jailed, 7 acquitted in highly publicised graft cases in Somalia

GOOBJOOG NEWS | MOGADISHU: Five out of 11 government officials accused of corruption were this morning sentence to varying jail terms ranging from one to nine years.

The Court sitting in Mogadishu delivered the much-anticipated verdict following weeks of hearings which were televised an attracted unprecedented public following.

Abdirahman Abdikarin Ibrahim who served as the head of foreign licensing at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs got the severest sentence-9 years and was permanently barred from holding public office. He was among those officials who were reported to have fled the country when police started arresting suspects.

The court also sentenced Abukar Mohamed Ali, the had of revenue collection for the Ministry of Finance at Aden Adde Airport to eight years in prison and also declared him unfit to hold office forever.

Sabir Hassan Abdinur who headed the Visa Extension and Verification in the Department of Immigration was slapped with a three-and-a-half-year jail term.  The director of foreign affairs in the Department of Immigration Abdullahi Mohamud Osoble and his deputy Omar Maalin Noor were each handed one-year jail terms.

Mohamed Aden Abdullahi, who is the manager of the Central Bank at Aden Adde airport branch was sentenced to 8 months in prison.

Acquitted

However, Mohamed Adde Mukhtar Abdirahman, the former director of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Abduqadir Abdi Sodal, a cashier at the revenue department for the Central Bank and Abdullahi Mohamed Ali, the former director of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs gained their freedom after the court found them not guilty.

Others who were acquitted are Abdiwahid Mursal Ibrahim, who headed the foreign licensing section in the Ministry of Labour and Aden Mohamed Abdi, the director of visa issuance at the Immigration Department. Abdi was also absent from the proceedings.