Mrs. Fawzia Y. H. Adam has strongly denied the graft allegations published by Reuters.
Hiiraan Online
By Shafi’i Mohyaddin
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Somalia’s former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mrs. Fawzia Y. H. Adam has strongly denied allegations made by former Somali central bank governor Yusur Abrar who accused Mrs. Adam of putting pressure on her to open an account in Dubai to use it for stealing money, according to a report recently published by Reuters.
Mrs. Adam, Somalia’s first ever female to hold a top government post, said in a press statement of which HOL obtained a copy, that the graft allegations published by Reuters on her were libelous.
“I would like to state here the facts about allegations by Reuters regarding the above mentioned graft which have recently been circulating in the international and local media were baseless and I condemn it in the strongest terms possible,” Mrs. Fawzia Y. H. Adam said in her press statement.
“Under the above heading, Reuters reported that ‘The sources said that according to Ms. Abrar (ex-Governor of Somali Central Bank), the former Foreign Minister (myself) had pressed her to open a bank account in Dubai against her wishes. Abrar resigned without opening it,” she noted in the press statement.
The statement said that Ms. Abrar, the former Governor of the Central Bank, had been strongly supported by the former Deputy Prime minister to get Abrar take such position as Governor precisely since Mrs. Adam wanted to see an experienced female in that high position to oppose graft (corruption).
Mrs. Adam said, as Reuters stated correctly, Ms. Abrar resigned only seven weeks after she was appointed to the post, however, out of those seven weeks Ms Abrar spent only four days working in the Central Bank(Evidence can be obtained from the Central Bank in Mogadishu).
“According to Reuters, Ms. Abrar has claimed that I have pressured her to open an account in Dubai. However, the fact is that the account was in the process of being opened by the former Assistant Minister of Finance of Somalia and he wanted the new Governor of the Central Bank to co-sign with him. The purpose for opening this account was due to the lack of a SWIFT code for the Central Bank to receive transactions from overseas at that time,” the statement noted.
The statement added that Ms. Abrar was in fact asked by the Assistant Minister of Finance to co-sign with him the account, in order to involve the Central Bank in all transactions. The Assistant Finance Minister confirmed that he was waiting for Ms. Abrar for 4 days in Dubai to finalize the matter.
Mrs. Fawzia Y. H. Adam said in her press statement that her role in the process was just to pass the message from the Assistant Finance Minister to Ms. Abrar, that he was waiting for her in Dubai to co-sign the aforementioned account.
“Ms. Abrar’s positive response to me is also available as further evidence. There was no pressure and/or request whatsoever from myself to Ms. Abrar to open any account, but just to co-sign the aforementioned account which the Government needed to deposit some economic aid to pay its Government employees,” Mrs. Fawzia Y. H. Adam said in her press statement.
“Furthermore, according to Reuters, Ms. Abrar claimed that I have pressured her to sanction contracts – again this is a baseless allegation. For the record, neither me nor the President pressured Ms. Abrar to open an account in Dubai or sanction any contracts. The documentary evidence supporting all the above is available upon request,” added the former Deputy Prime Minister and foreign affairs minister of Somalia.
Mrs. Fawzia Y. H. Adam was also very critical of Reuters for its role, stating that this story implicating her in graft was completely one-sided.
“Further, Reuters has made no attempt whatsoever to contact me to obtain the facts on their story. I shall be seeking legal advice on this matter,” the former top-ranking female official emphasized in her press statement.
Email:islow@hiiraan.com
Mrs. Adam, Somalia’s first ever female to hold a top government post, said in a press statement of which HOL obtained a copy, that the graft allegations published by Reuters on her were libelous.
“I would like to state here the facts about allegations by Reuters regarding the above mentioned graft which have recently been circulating in the international and local media were baseless and I condemn it in the strongest terms possible,” Mrs. Fawzia Y. H. Adam said in her press statement.
“Under the above heading, Reuters reported that ‘The sources said that according to Ms. Abrar (ex-Governor of Somali Central Bank), the former Foreign Minister (myself) had pressed her to open a bank account in Dubai against her wishes. Abrar resigned without opening it,” she noted in the press statement.
 Former Governor of Somali Central Bank Ms. Yusur Abrar - Photo HOL |
Mrs. Adam said, as Reuters stated correctly, Ms. Abrar resigned only seven weeks after she was appointed to the post, however, out of those seven weeks Ms Abrar spent only four days working in the Central Bank(Evidence can be obtained from the Central Bank in Mogadishu).
“According to Reuters, Ms. Abrar has claimed that I have pressured her to open an account in Dubai. However, the fact is that the account was in the process of being opened by the former Assistant Minister of Finance of Somalia and he wanted the new Governor of the Central Bank to co-sign with him. The purpose for opening this account was due to the lack of a SWIFT code for the Central Bank to receive transactions from overseas at that time,” the statement noted.
The statement added that Ms. Abrar was in fact asked by the Assistant Minister of Finance to co-sign with him the account, in order to involve the Central Bank in all transactions. The Assistant Finance Minister confirmed that he was waiting for Ms. Abrar for 4 days in Dubai to finalize the matter.
Mrs. Fawzia Y. H. Adam said in her press statement that her role in the process was just to pass the message from the Assistant Finance Minister to Ms. Abrar, that he was waiting for her in Dubai to co-sign the aforementioned account.
“Ms. Abrar’s positive response to me is also available as further evidence. There was no pressure and/or request whatsoever from myself to Ms. Abrar to open any account, but just to co-sign the aforementioned account which the Government needed to deposit some economic aid to pay its Government employees,” Mrs. Fawzia Y. H. Adam said in her press statement.
“Furthermore, according to Reuters, Ms. Abrar claimed that I have pressured her to sanction contracts – again this is a baseless allegation. For the record, neither me nor the President pressured Ms. Abrar to open an account in Dubai or sanction any contracts. The documentary evidence supporting all the above is available upon request,” added the former Deputy Prime Minister and foreign affairs minister of Somalia.
Mrs. Fawzia Y. H. Adam was also very critical of Reuters for its role, stating that this story implicating her in graft was completely one-sided.
“Further, Reuters has made no attempt whatsoever to contact me to obtain the facts on their story. I shall be seeking legal advice on this matter,” the former top-ranking female official emphasized in her press statement.
Email:islow@hiiraan.com
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