Thursday September 21, 2023
Mogadishu (HOL) - The Somali Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA) and the Ministries of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management at both federal and regional levels have jointly prohibited the trading of aid intended for Somalia.
In a statement released on Wednesday, they declared that anyone caught selling humanitarian aid would face immediate prosecution.
"The diversion of aid is an intolerable act in every regard," the statement emphasized.
The decision comes just days after the European Union executive temporarily suspended funding for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Somalia after a U.N. investigation found widespread theft and misuse of aid meant to avert famine, two senior E.U. officials told Reuters on Monday.
The WFP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The European Commission gave more than $7 million in aid to the WFP's operations in Somalia last year, a fraction of the donations of more than $1 billion it received, U.N. data shows. E.U. member states gave much more money on a bilateral basis. It was not immediately clear whether any would also suspend aid.