A Mogadishu court has sentenced four top Ministry of Health officials to several years in prison for corruption.
The four officials were arrested in April 2020 on suspicion of misusing donor funds.
At the time, the suspicion was that they had colluded to misappropriate funds donated for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their case has been before the Mogadishu court for the last four months.
The officials are Abdullahi Hashi, the Director General at the health ministry, and Mohamed Bule, the ministry’s Director of Administration and Finance.
Others were Mahdi Abshir, the Head of the Accounting Department, and Bashir Abdi, who heads the Malaria and HIV/AIDS Department at the health ministry.
Hashi’s sentence is 9 years with a fine of $2,366. Bule was sentenced to 18 years in prison with a fine of $2,366 too.
Further, the court sentenced Abshir to a prison term of 12 years and a fine of $2,366. Abdi was sentenced to a term of 3 years. He is expected to pay a fine of $1,183 too.