- NAIROBI, Kenya: Somali politicians are returning from Arab nations with briefcases of cash, and a Somali government watchdog report obtained by The Associated Press finds that more than $70 million of it is missing.
The cash payments encourage politicians to hang onto power while paying little attention to crucial needs. A lack of attention to constituents’ needs may also be fueling an Al-Qaeda-linked insurgency.
Abdirazak Fartaag is the head of the Public Finance Management Unit, a Somali government body. He said Somali politicians want to keep the status quo because they are profiting from it.
Somalia’s prime minister told AP the government is trying to be more transparent and make its records public.
