The Attorney General Summons Somalia Finance Minister on “Dubious Grounds”

[Deeq A.]

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — The Office of Attorney General of Somalia summoned the Finance Minister Dr Abdirahman Beyle.

“In line with its duties, Financial Economic and Cyber/crimes Unit of the Attorney General’s Office is investigating crimes relating to the national economy and finances. Therefore, the Office of the Attorney General summons the Minister of Finance to come to the [Attorney General’s] Office on 27/6/2022 at 11:OO AM to answer questions about financial investigations the Office is conducting” reads the letter.

Missing in the letter from the Office of the Attorney General is a cc for the Office of Auditor General whose findings should legally trigger a process to prosecute an alleged culprit for public finances misconduct.

Dr Beyle highlighted procedural violation in the Attorney General’s letter sent without due regard to the 1978 Law to Create the Office of the Attorney General.

A staff member of the Auditor General’s Office told Puntland Post that the summons sent to Dr Beyle was based on dubious grounds. In 2019 the Financial Governance Committee urged the Finance Ministry to investigate government assets sold by the Federal Government of Somalia during President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s first term of office (2012-2017). The Federal Government of Somalia did not start investigations into public assets that President Mohamud authorized to be sold to entrepreneurs.

“The only mistake that Dr Beyle might have been forced to make was to allow Mohamed Hussein Roble, the former Prime Minister, to return $9.6 million to the United Arab Emirates government. He should have resigned instead of letting Roble bypass the due process” said a former Federal MP.

Dr Beyle wrote to the Office of the Attorney General about violation of the mandate of the Office as stipulated in Article 3 of the 1978 Law to Create the Office of the Attorney General.

The Finance Minister has overseen landmark economic and security reforms of the Federal Government of Somalia during the administration of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (2017-2022).

© Puntland Post, 2022

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