TUG OF WAR: Foreign Affairs dismisses graft allegations by Auditor General, AG

Foreign Affairs Ministry has dismissed as ‘baseless and far-fetched’ allegations of corruption even as the Attorney General and Auditor General stand ground deputy foreign affairs minister Mukhar Daud must stand trial for alleged corruption.

In a hard hitting statement Monday, the Ministry headed byAhmed Awad lashed out at the Attorney General Ahmed Dahir and Auditor General Mohamed Ali terming their accusations as ‘defamatory’.

“The Ministry is denying all graft allegations which the Auditor General and Director of Public Prosecutions have transmitted through the media as baseless,” the statement read in part.

The Ministry further accused the two institutions of breaching protocol in government communication adding their actions amounted to ‘abuse of the dignity of the Ministry.’

The Ministry also called the security forces out for attempts to arrest the deputy minster at the Ministry Headquarters based in KM 5 adding the subsequent media conference by both Dahir and Ali was ‘based on false statements and damaged the dignity of the Deputy Minister’.

But both Dahir and Ali have insisted charges against Daud are valid and backed by sufficient evidence. “This matter was forwarded from the Office of the Auditor General. The evidence is very clear and the Prosecutor has filed a case at Banaadir Regional Court,” Dahir who also serves as Public Prosecutor said Thursday in a joint media conference with the Auditor General.

There were reports Thursday the Deputy Minister had been arrested but Awad later told the media there was no arrest but affirmed the entry of the police into the ministry offices.

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