With repeated accusations that Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Fiqi has turned his ministry into a profit center in the business of notarizing student diplomas and certificates for $45 a piece and also selling Diplomatic Passports for upwards of $20,000, Minister Fiqi instead of officially admitting or denying the alleged corruption at his office publicly picks a fight with renown corruption fighter MP Abdullahi Hashi Abib.
MP Abib, on the issue of the prevalence of corruption and civil service passports for sale at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has written a letter to US Ambassador Richard Riley inquiring about Somalia diplomatic passports “reportedly issued for the sole purpose of obtaining visas from the US, Cuba, Canada, EU, and UK for individuals who are not employees of the Federal or State Government of Somalia.”
MP Abib suspects that the people Minister Fiqi issues Diplomatic Passports “appear to be seeking immigration opportunities to these countries, with visa procurement bribes ranging from $20,000 to $25,000.”
Minister Fiqi didn’t appreciate MP Abib’s line of inquiry, and instead of publicly denying the accusations from MP Abib who also happens to be a Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Minister Fiqi posted on X that “It is unfortunate that an MP, who neglected his duty & only attended 3 parliament sessions in the last 2 years, is spreading baseless accusations and propaganda to tarnish the govt [government]. I urge you to prioritize your responsibilities and actively participate in parliamentary proceedings.”
It didn’t take long for MP Abib to respond to Minister Fiqi. Tagging countries with a high number of Somali refugees, including but not limited to the USA, UK, Italy, and Turkey, MP Abib tells the Minister that “the issue of Parliament session attendance has been settled and escalated to highest authority due to personal security and safety. I’m awaiting the official response from Speaker Adan Madoobe, and from the President and the Prime Minister.”
MP Abib then adds, “Let us now come back to the serious issues I have raised with the U.S. Ambassador, which are based on the transcript of the Foreign Affairs Committee meeting on Tuesday, July 29, 2024. I’M ONLY STATING FACTS. Clearly, the issue of selling passports for visa isn’t so important to many but please treat it seriously and respond appropriately. Our international partners expect discreet response on serious issues. Honorable Minister Ahmed Fiqi, let us return to the agenda.”
We now await if Minister Fiqi will respond and stay on agenda by admitting to or denying the alleged sale of diplomatic passports by his office.
On the issue of notarizing certificates, as we have reported back in June, Minister of Education Farah Abdikadir and Minister Ahmed Fiqi both utilize Farah Abdikadir’s newly established TASDIIQ Company to charge and immediately collect certification fees, where each one of them charges $45 per certificate or diploma to be notarized by each office.
Minister Farah Abdikadir established his TASDIIQ COMPANY on 12 May 2024 with the sole purpose of notarizing all of Somalia’s education certificates for a fee of $45. Certification fee in the amount of $20 per certificate were previously charged by the Ministry of Education and directly deposited in the Treasury Single Account (TSA) with the Central Bank. Minister Farah Abdikadir, per agreement with the same Ministry of Education he heads, contracted the certification process and fee collections to his own TASDIIQ COMPANY. Funds are no longer deposited at the CBS TSA, and per agreement with Minister Fiqi, TASDIIQ COMPANY is now a business partnership between the ministers.
With so many Diplomatic Passports issued by both State Minister Ali Balcad and Minister Fiqi, Daljir has learned that an unpresented number of Somalis holding diplomatic passports have obtained Cuba visas and traveled to Mexico. But why obtain a Cuba visa but travel to Mexico you may ask. The answer lies with State Minister Ali Balcad and his brother-in-law in Toronto.
State Minister Ali Balcad with Financial Interest, on 4 April 2023, certified Juan Manuel Rodríguez Vázquez, Cuba’s Ambassador to Kenya as non-residence ambassador in Somalia. Little before that on 27 March 2024, the State Minister nominated his brother-in-law Omar M Mohamed (Dufle) in Toronto to Somalia’s non-resident Ambassador designate to Cuba. As we will soon expose in an upcoming story of Somalis caught up at the US-Mexico border, State Minister Ali Balcad, Minister Fiqi, Cuban Ambassador to Kenya and Somalia, and Ambassador designate Dufle all have worked in concert to arrange Cuban Visas to holders of diplomatic passports, and instead of flying them to Cuba, they fly them to Mexico with the US-Mexico border being the final destination.
If you ever wondered how do so many Somalis enter the US from Mexico, now you know.
Contributed to by Daljir staff in Nairobi, Garoowe and Mogadishu
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