Somaliland Representative Offices On The Verge Of Closing

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Hargeisa:- The Somaliland representative offices in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, United Kingdom and the United States are on the verge of closing because Somaliland's erstwhile Foreign Minister, Dr. Mohamed Abdillahi Omar has refused to release the small amount of funds needed to cover their operating costs, reliable sources have confirmed to Qarannews.com.

According to these sources, the minister, Dr. Omar has refused to release any funds to these missions until the completion of an investigation by the Auditor General of Somaliland currently under way at the ministry to ascertain whether there has been miss-management or miss- appropriation of funds intended for overseas missions.

The Auditor General was called in to investigate the ministry by the Somaliland President, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud "Siilaanyo", after allegations of corruption at the ministry were made by the former Director-General of the ministry, Mohamud Rage Ibrahim, who resigned last month.

The former Director-General of the ministry, Mohamud Rage Ibrahim, in his resignation speech had accused the erstwhile minister, Dr. Omar of allegedly miss-appropriating funds intended for a Somaliland mission in the new African country of South Sudan. That allegation had been denied by the minister.

Our sources state that the above mentioned Somaliland representative office located in strategically important countries to Somaliland cause will not be able to meet their operation cost and may have to close temporarily until the Auditor General's investigation at the ministry has been concluded.

The Somaliland Foreign minister, Dr. Mohamed Abdillahi Omar has often stated that Somaliland needs to more professional in its diplomatic endeavours, closing its representative office in these countries, however temporary, appears to contradict that mantra.

Already Somaliland representative offices in South Africa and Pakistan have closed due to a lack of funds, even though their operating cost were included in the 2011 budget for the ministry.