Civil servants unpaid for months as Farmajo runs for re-election

Officials at the Ministry of Finance who spoke to KON on condition of anonymity denied that there was a two-month salary arrear, saying that only in July some civil servants did not receive their dues.

News Keydmedia Online
22 August 2021

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Somali civil servants are complaining about a lack of salaries for two months and they are in a panic to go unpaid for the third consecutive month this year.

This comes amid inflation and skyrocketing prices of goods at the markets.

Keydmedia Online has learned from a civil servant working for Benadir regional administration that they did not receive their salaries for the months of June and July as well as the ending of August.

Officials at the Ministry of Finance who spoke to KON on condition of anonymity denied that there was a two-month salary arrear, saying that only in July some civil servants did not receive their dues.

They added that the ministry will release the July payment this month, which means that August salaries will go missing. The government faces an economic crisis as Somalia is in an electioneering period.

PM Roble is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar, the wealthiest Gulf nations as he seeks financial support to facilitate the ongoing elections in the country.

The civil servants experience a lack of payment at the end of every president’s tenure. In 2016-2017, they were unpaid for nearly a year as Hassan Sheikh spending large sums of money in his re-election bid.

NISA boss Fahad Yasin, a close ally to Qatar, and the outgoing president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo are accused of using the public's funds in the current elections to remain in power.

KEYDMEDIA English