President of Somalia and the Conflict of Interest in Public Office

[Deeq A.]

President Mohamud should blame himself if the public gives his anti-corruption pronouncements a cold shoulder.

Mogadishu (Comment) — Today, 15/5/2023, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud celebrated the first anniversary of his re-election. His campaign against corruption is strong on intentions but weak on how to deal with rampant corruption that caused a drop in tax revenues.

President Mohamud should blame himself if the public gives his anti-corruption pronouncements a cold shoulder. In a recent town hall meeting in Mogadishu President Mohamud urged senior government officials not to be affected by accusations of nepotism. “My children and my nephews have rights as citizens” President Mohamud said apparently in response to accusations that he had appointed his daughter to senior foreign affairs advisory role.

The appointment was published in the Official Gazette posted in the Auditor General’s website. President Mohamud has yet to commit himself to the public office ethos of never giving family members, siblings, in-laws, and close relatives an unfair advantage over other citizens. He allows conflict of interest to erode governance. Why should President Mohamud’s daughter have access to the Somalia Foreign Ministry files in her capacity as a Senior Foreign Adviser to the President of Somalia?

The Official Bulletin published the appointment of Jihan, the President’s daughter, as a Senior Foreign Affairs Adviser.

President Mohamud is following in the footsteps of President Mohamed Siyad Barre, who appointed his half-brother, Abdirahman Jama Barre, the Foreign Minister before 1980, and the Finance Minister after 1984. Conflict of interest compromises the political judgement of the President or any public official.

If President Mohamud defends conflict of interest as a part of his program to fight corruption there is no doubt that the aim is to give corrupt officials a pretext to cover up their misdemeanours.

President Mohamud wondered how a government official wearing a luxury watch managed to buy it for a salary 1/4 of the price of the watch? The clothes a government official wears or the car he/she drives does not give hints about possible misappropriation of public resources. If the President does not mind appointing his daughter to a higher government position in violation of the conflict of interest principle, then anti-corruption measures he declared on the Presidency Mosque will have become a lip service.

The post President of Somalia and the Conflict of Interest in Public Office appeared first on Puntland Post.