PM: Somalia demanded US aid cut

Somalia’s Prime Minister demanded US aid be cut to run an investigation over concerns of corruption in the Somali national army, Somali Press Online reported.

“There are some countries who help us on the salary issue which we agreed upon earlier to carry out research in order to draw out complete plans stipulating the required help we need and ways of developing the army. Among those countries is the USA,” Somalia’s Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Kheire, said.

“We suspended the salaries of some of army personnel with US knowledge.”

“We implemented the registration of the armed forces through electronic devices to avoid corruption on the fund paid by the government, assessment of the number, quality and armoury possessed by the army,” Kheire continued.

The minister’s comments come a week after the US suspended food and fuel aid to most of Somalia’s armed forces over the corruption concerns. This came as a result of a meeting between the US and Somalia which concluded that the Somali national army failed to meet standards for accountability for US assistance.

The US inked plans to the White House early this month to continue fighting in Somalia for two more years. According to the blueprint, there will be an internal review in 24 months to decide whether to continue fighting in the country.

Uganda announced this month that it will be withdrawing 281 troops from Somalia. This coincides with the African Union’s plan to reduce the number of troops by 1,000 before the end of the year. Announcements of a withdrawal of troops has come at a time when Somalia has witnessed an increased in attacks by the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab armed group with the most deadly killing more than 500 people in the capital Mogadishu.

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