SOMALIA CENTRAL BANK A( SLUSH FUND)FOR PRIFIT PAYMENTS UN. Indeed of $16.9 million transferred by PWC to the Central Bank, $12 million could not be traced,” it said. “Key to these irregularities has been the current governor of the Central Bank, Abdusalam Omer. Luxemberg(N.N.N.):Money at the Central Bank of Somalia is not used to run government institutions in the war-torn Horn of Africa country, with an average 80 percent of withdrawals made for private purposes, according to a U.N. report seen by Reuters on Monday. The confidential report by the U.N. Group of Experts to the Security Council’s Somalia and Eritrea sanctions committee blamed a patronage system – dubbed the “khaki envelope” practice after the color of the stationery carried to the Ministry of Finance – for preventing the creation of state institutions. “In this context, the fiduciary agency managed by PricewaterhouseCoopers was reduced to a transfer agent that could not ensure accountability of funds once they reached the Somali government,” the report said. “Indeed of $16.9 million transferred by PWC to the Central Bank, $12 million could not be traced,” it said. “Key to these irregularities has been the current governor of the Central Bank, Abdusalam Omer. PricewaterhouseCoopers, Omer and the Somalia U.N. mission did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Omer, 59, is a dual Somali-U.S. national who left Somalia at age 16 and returned in January to become governor of the Central Bank in a country with a shattered economy and broken financial system. The overthrow of a dictator in 1991 plunged Somalia into two decades of violent turmoil, first at the hands of clan warlords and then Islamist militants, who have steadily lost ground since 2011 under pressure from an African Union military offensive. Somalia was virtually lawless and unable to assert authority until a Western-leaning government was elected last year. The U.N. report said all bank decisions were made by Omer because there were no board members in place and the bank does not operate as a government body subject to policy decisions or oversight from integrity institutions and parliament. “On average, some 80 percent of withdrawals from the Central Bank are made for private purposes and not for the running of government, representing a patronage system and a set of social relations that defy institutionalization of the state,” it said. The experts said Somali Finance Minister Mohamud Hassan Suleiman had tried to reduce the scale of the patronage system, but “it is so pervasive as to be beyond his control without a fundamental restructuring of the system.” Mohamed Haji Essa(Maygaag) National News Network:Luxemberg
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 12:28:10 +0000
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