Marqaati: The Winning President paid $15 million dollars to buy votes

[Deeq A.]

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — An anti-corruption organisation in Somalia, Marqaati, alleges that a total of $50, 000,000 was spent on vote buying during Somalia presidential election. $15,000,000 of the money was allegedly paid by the “winning president”, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

How the money changed hands is not clear given the reported limits placed by local banks in Mogadishu on money transfers during the election day.

“Businessmen spent about $50M supporting various candidates. The winning candidate was given $15M. From where do they expect to get the money? Keep your eyes open, report the corruption you see. Protect #Somalia from those that want to steal from it” tweeted M. Mubarak, the founder of Marqaati, who urged people to report any electoral corruption.

A Somali Senator who spoke to Puntland Post on the condition of anonymity said that “a Gulf country has channelled funds for buying votes through Djibouti but payment guarantees was made by a major telecommunications company in Mogadishu.” He said that some MPs canvassing votes for the winning president had approached fellow the MPs and senators who sold their votes for $ 100,000 per vote. “Their campaign managers bought more than 90 votes for the third round, making the first round of election uncharacteristically less pricey” the MP added.

Irregularities marred the process to select MPs and Senators following a revised electoral model that gave Federal Member States carte blanche to oversee and endorse the process to select MPs and Senators.

© Puntland Post, 2022

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