Covid-19 Corruption Plagues Somalia

In Somalia, massive corruption in the spending of Covid-19 relief funds is public. Several suppliers have pleaded guilty to inflating prices of goods such as face masks. Recently, a Somalian court jailed four government officials for the theft of public funds meant for Covid-19 emergency response.

Although court documents did not reveal how much each of them stole, the Ministry of Health had questioned spending of between $42,000 and $45,000.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom has equated corruption in procurement of PPE to murder.

'Any level or any type of corruption is unacceptable. However, corruption related to PPE … for me it is actually a murder. Because, if health workers work without PPE, we are risking their lives and that also risks the lives of the people they serve. So it is criminal and it is a murder,' Dr Adhanom said on August 22.

It is impossible to quantify how much has been lost, but the cases exposed so far of theft in procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) and diversion of aid money meant for vulnerable people in Somalia highlight the possible plunder of billions of dollars.