An Italian non-governmental organization (NGO) has shut its Somali operations over claims of “systematic corruption.”
INTERSOS, an NGO operating in Somalia with funding from the United Nations, specializes in the provision of healthcare to thousands of Somalis.
It announced plans to depart from Somalia because of an investigation that highlighted “systematic fraud.”
INTERSOS said that the fraud is of such magnitude that it would be impossible to resolve.
Kostas Moschochoritis, a Director of the NGO, made this announcement during an interview with The New Humanitarian.
He said that the organization made the hard decision to shut down its operations in Somalia after intense debate internally.
INTERSOS has close to 200 employees most of whom are Somalis.
All the employees are likely to lose their jobs once the NGO closes shop. The decision could affect employees working in the Kenyan office too.