Thursday October 22, 2026
Hargeisa (HOL) — Somaliland authorities have arrested 27 people in connection with suspected corruption since President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro took office, Auditor General Muse Yusuf Idigaa announced Wednesday.
Idigaa said the investigations were authorized by President Irro and involved examinations of government institutions and their management of public funds.
advertisements
He said his office had completed its annual audit report and submitted it to the House of Representatives, while also making the findings available to the media.
“The audit accounts are transparent, and the public has the right to know about them. They are not something to be concealed,” Idigaa said.
He described the public disclosure of government institutions' financial accounts as an unprecedented step toward transparency, saying previous administrations had not released such information in the same manner.
Idigaa argued that taxpayers have the right to know how public money is collected, managed and spent.
He said the Auditor General's Office had identified shortcomings in government institutions, demanded accountability from those responsible and outlined measures to address the problems.
However, the publication of the financial accounts has reportedly drawn objections from some government officials, including the governor of Maroodi Jeex region.
According to Idigaa, some officials opposed making the findings public and recommended keeping financial details confidential, raising concerns about increased public scrutiny of government spending.
The opposition Kaah Party has also accused Irro's administration of widespread corruption and called for investigations and accountability over the management of public funds.
The party has urged authorities to establish how government resources are being used and ensure that officials implicated in financial misconduct are held responsible.
The auditor general did not provide details about the identities of the 27 people arrested, the institutions involved or whether formal charges had been filed against them.
The arrests and publication of the audit report come amid growing public debate over transparency, financial oversight and accountability within Somaliland's government institutions.