Trial of government officials accused of graft opens in Mogadishu

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: The trial of the first four senior government officials accused of corruption opened in Mogadishu Thursday morning as dozens of other officials are lined up for trial.

Four officials appeared at Banaadir Regional Court as the mention for their cases commenced. Several other officials, some of who have reportedly fled the country have been pointed out for trial by the Attorney General.

Those facing court today are Abdullahi Mohamud Osoble, Director of Immigration at the Department of Immigration and Naturalisation, Umar Maallin Noor, Deputy Director of Foreign Affairs at Immigration and Naturalisation Department, Sabir Hassan Abdinur, the head of Visa Extension and Verification in the Foreign Division of the Immigration and Naturalisation and Adan Mohamed Abdi, director of visa issuance in the Immigration and Naturalisation.

According to the charge sheet, the four are variously accused of corruption, abuse of power and misappropriation of public funds.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud early this month urged those accused of corruption not to flee noting that they will get a fair trial.

Dozens of officials have been named by the Attorney General for corruption-related accusations amid reports of run-away corruption in some government departments.