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LequteMan
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A resignation letter by Somalia's Central Bank Governor sent from Dubai has thrown Western donors into a quandary over supporting a government they need to fight al Qaeda's local allies.
Governor Yussur Abrar quit after only seven weeks in the job, alleging she had been pressured to accept arrangements she believed would open the door to corruption.
She said she had "continuously been asked to sanction deals and transactions that would contradict my personal values and violate my fiduciary responsibility to the Somali people."
Without giving names, Abrar said she had been "undermined by various parties within the administration."
A former Citigroup Vice President, Abrar said she had vehemently opposed a contract with U.S. law firm Shulman Rogers under which it is trying to recover the assets from abroad.
This, she said, would "put the frozen assets at risk and open the door to corruption."
Abrar also said in her resignation letter that she had been warned by "multiple parties" that her personal security would be at risk if she went against the president's wishes.
Sources familiar with Abrar's version of events said that the pressure on her to sanction the contract had come from the president and his foreign minister at the time.
Abrar declined to elaborate publicly on her allegations when asked, although she said in an email: "Tackling corruption was vital to create trust with international partners and to move the country forward economically, socially and politically.’’
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said he never put pressure on Abrar to sign any contract. ``I have a very clear record in government since I came to power’’, he said on the sidelines of an AU summit in Ethiopia.
The sources said that according to Abrar, the former foreign minister had also pressed her to open a bank account in Dubai against her wishes. Abrar resigned without opening it.
According to Abrar, the assets and money from Middle East donors would be channelled through the Dubai account before transfer to Somalia, the sources said.
Abrar resigned only a few months after a conference when governments promised 2.5 billion dollars to help rebuild Somalia, a pledge seen as a collective endorsement of Mohamud's leadership.
The allegations shocked Western diplomats and UN officials who had put so much faith in the president to restore Somalia's stability.
It embarrassed foreign donors who had pledged billions to rebuild his shattered nation after two decades of chaos.
Governor Yussur Abrar quit after only seven weeks in the job, alleging she had been pressured to accept arrangements she believed would open the door to corruption.
She said she had "continuously been asked to sanction deals and transactions that would contradict my personal values and violate my fiduciary responsibility to the Somali people."
Without giving names, Abrar said she had been "undermined by various parties within the administration."
A former Citigroup Vice President, Abrar said she had vehemently opposed a contract with U.S. law firm Shulman Rogers under which it is trying to recover the assets from abroad.
This, she said, would "put the frozen assets at risk and open the door to corruption."
Abrar also said in her resignation letter that she had been warned by "multiple parties" that her personal security would be at risk if she went against the president's wishes.
Sources familiar with Abrar's version of events said that the pressure on her to sanction the contract had come from the president and his foreign minister at the time.
Abrar declined to elaborate publicly on her allegations when asked, although she said in an email: "Tackling corruption was vital to create trust with international partners and to move the country forward economically, socially and politically.’’
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said he never put pressure on Abrar to sign any contract. ``I have a very clear record in government since I came to power’’, he said on the sidelines of an AU summit in Ethiopia.
The sources said that according to Abrar, the former foreign minister had also pressed her to open a bank account in Dubai against her wishes. Abrar resigned without opening it.
According to Abrar, the assets and money from Middle East donors would be channelled through the Dubai account before transfer to Somalia, the sources said.
Abrar resigned only a few months after a conference when governments promised 2.5 billion dollars to help rebuild Somalia, a pledge seen as a collective endorsement of Mohamud's leadership.
The allegations shocked Western diplomats and UN officials who had put so much faith in the president to restore Somalia's stability.
It embarrassed foreign donors who had pledged billions to rebuild his shattered nation after two decades of chaos.
