Somalia Auditor General flags $21 million missing funds

By: The EastAfrican

Somalia’s Auditor General Ahmed Isse Gutale says up to $21 million is missing from government coffers, pointing to widespread embezzlement of public funds in the last five years.

The findings of a forensic audit found that the money had been withdrawn from government accounts between March 8, 2018, and April 19, 2023.

In a statement on Wednesday, the auditor general said he found no evidence of proper procedure in spending the money and that he had forwarded the report to the Office of the Prosecutor General.

“The Forensic Audit Report…involves officials and staff of the audited entities as well as civilians that worked in partnership with these offices,” he said in a press release.

The audit covered the work permit department under the Labour ministry, visa extension under Immigration, the central bank, Finance ministry and the Office of the Accountant General.

In 2013, the Federal Government of Somalia announced that it had launched a new Public Finance Management Policy (PFMP) to render more transparent its public sector financial system.

Somalia is ranked among the most graft-plagued countries worldwide.