The removal from the Federal Government of Somalia rolls of anyone who traces their roots to Puntland continues unabated, the latest one being Iidle Abdikhadar Alimire, a Human Resource Management Officer at the Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) since July 2018.
According to MP Abullahi Hashi Abib, Mr. Alimire’s removal from the CBS come to light last night after concerned and highly distressed employees of the Bank have reached out to the MP for help “over the severe mistreatment, relentless harassment, intimidation, and threats directed at Mr. Alimire by the Governor, General Manager, and Executive Director.”
MP Abib hours ago reported that this was an intentional retaliatory action for what the bank leadership thought was a relationship between Mr. Alimire and MP Abib, a relationship MP Abib denies. In a letter to President Hassan Sheikh and to the Parliamentary Oversight Committee, MP Abib writes that “Mr. Alimire has been made a scapegoat in order to hide the leadership failure of the Governors, as those implicated scramble to deflect accountability. I solemnly affirm, in the name of Allah the Almighty, that I have never met, communicated with, or received any information from Mr. Alimire or the Human Resources Department. All the incriminating information I have reported came directly from Villa Somalia. Villa Somalia, in turn, received this information from the General Manager (GM), who, alongside the Governor and the Executive Director (ED), now falsely accuses Mr. Alimire. These actions represent a deliberate attempt by the implicated parties to shift blame and obscure their own culpability.”
MP Abib has previously on Daljir published investigative reports exposed rampant and pervasive corruption at the Central Bank of Somalia along with fake academic degrees and diploma by the Governor of the Central Bank. As these investigative reports came to light, pressure on Radio Daljir to erase these reports from Daljir archives intensified; and in addition, certain employees at the bank, Mr. Alimire being one of them increased. As just revealed by MP Abib, “The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that Mr. Alimire’s salary has been unjustly terminated without any due process, further exacerbating his plight.”
But why is Mr. Alimire being made an example for the rest of the staff at the CBS to learn from, as MP Abib has definitely swore to the Almighty that he “never met, communicated with, or received any information from Mr. Alimire or the Human Resources Department?”
The answer seems to be “because Mr. Alimire has roots to the State of Puntland,” and MP Abib similarly concedes to that line of thought as he writes, “The only crime committed by Mr. Alimire is that he is originally from Puntland, a Federal Member State of Somalia, which decided to cut ties with the Federal Republic of Somalia Government after Villa Somalia pushed forward illegal constitutional changes that all Somali citizens did not agree with. Mr. Alimire, who hails from Puntland, was punished purely and simply based on tribal affiliations. This is nothing short of blatant discrimination and a violation of the principles of equality and justice that our nation claims to uphold.”
Removal of people of Puntland from the Federal Government rolls extends across the civil service sector where Fadumo Mohamed Abdi, First Secretary at Somalia’s Embassy in India, was similarly removed for hailing from Puntland. At just the embassy level alone, Daljir has learned that civil servants who hail from Puntland have been wholly removed, one-by-one, from over 11 embassies across the world.
Daljir has reached out to some of the MPs and Senators representing Puntland at the Federal level, but they have so far refused to go on public record as to why people of Puntland are being particularly targeted. However, one MP who wants to remain anonymous tells Daljir that “at the kind of hatred directed against the people of Puntland, where they are being systematically removed from their civil service jobs without a cause, and private individuals are once against, similar to 1991, losing their properties and land, Mogadishu can no longer remain the capital of Somalia, and I will soon speak out about all these issues.”
Contributed to by Daljir staff in Garoowe and Mogadishu.
COMMENTS