Somalia: Kamal Gutale Involved Piracy While Working in Villa Somalia
The UN Monitoring report on Somalia that was published in October 2014 shows Kamal’s involvement in piracy. The report says that Kamal opened a bank account for Mohamed Abdi Hassan ‘Afweyne’ the kingpin of pirates, who is considered to be responsible for at least 24 hijacking and abduction cases and has often and publicly admitted his involvement, including during a 24 April 2013 interview with AFP. In 2010, the Monitoring Group proposed Afweyne for sanctioning.
Mr Gutale is now believed to be working with the Ministry of Justice & Constitutional Affairs as an Advisor. He is very close to Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir. Mr Gutale is accused of wide corruption during his work as Chief of Staff and also during his work as Personal Assistant to former Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Mr Gutale is lobbying very hard to become the President of Central State of Somalia. He has zero confidence from public as during his stay with Villa Somalia was known as the most corrupt individual. He has no support from Saleebaan clan let alone other clans in Haber Gedir or Hawiye.
Zakaria Hussein Arreh, also identified someone who was supported Afweyne and his activities. Zakaria was a member of Djibouti intelligence, but became a member of Somali Parliament in 2009. Zakaria had contact with a number of well known Somalis including Mr Gutale, Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir, Asha Haji Elmi and others.
The report from the UN Monitoring report shows Mr Gutale and other’s involvement: from page 174 of the 460 pages of the report:
“Bank account D
159. In bank account D of Bank X in Mogadishu, a total amount of USD 948,883 was deposited between May 2012 and December 2013. The proxy holder of the account has been identified as the finance officer of Central Air Aviation, Ali Mohamud Ali, who is associated with several individuals involved in piracy, including Hobyo-Harardhere pirate leader Mohamed Osman Mohamed ‘Gafanje’ (see annex 4.6).
160. The e-mail address that was used to register the bank account belonging to Afweyne has been identified as the personal e-mail address of Kamal Dahir Hassan ‘Gutale’, the former Chief of Staff of FGS President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Kamal Hassan is said to be a ‘cousin’ of Afweyne.
161. Another acquaintance and business partner of Afweyne is Aruse Nur Shuriye, a.k.a. Nur Lugey, who serves as a person of introduction on Afweyne’s bank account. Nur Lugey lives in Adado and runs the local “Walaalaha Company” which owns and manages Adado Airport. For the past decade Walaalaha Company has been involved in the rebuilding of the airport, which facilitated the growing khat and airline business of Afweyne but also meant additional tax-income or revenues for the local Himan and Heeb Administration.
162. Twenty-two incoming transfers or deposits between May 2012 and December 2013 can be identified in the account, with an overall average amount of USD 43,132 per transfer. The highest incoming transfer registered was USD 327,000. Of 221 outgoing transfers or withdrawals recorded on the account, the average transfer amounted to USD 4,292.
The report continues to say ……
168. In 2009, Zakaria reportedly came into contact with Abdifatah Hassan Afrah, who served as then Somali President Sheikh Sharif’s envoy to Libya. Both men entered into a business arrangement to facilitate the travel of eight Senior pirates to Tripoli: Mohamed Abdi Hassan ‘Afweyne’, Mohamed Osman Mohamed ‘Gafanje’, Mohamed Abdi Garaad, Fathi Osman Kahiye and 4 others. They were invited to attend the celebrations marking President Muammar Gaddafi’s fortieth anniversary in power during early September 2009, and subsequently flew to Libya on Djiboutian passports furnished by Zakaria.
169. In subsequent years, Zakaria apparently continued to facilitate the international travel of pirates and senior members of Al-Shabaab by providing them safe passage at Djibouti airport for their onward journey to Yemen, Eritrea and Sudan, allegedly under the cover of the Djiboutian Government.
170. Both Zakaria and Afrah are alleged to have acted as pirate financiers and invested funds in pirate operations. Afrah is the current Governor of Hiraan region in Somalia. According to the ‘Chambre de Commerce de Djibouti’, Zakaria is Director of a construction company called ‘Dallah Djibouti SARL’.
– Several individuals previously involved in piracy, including pirate kingpin Afweyne, pirate leader Abdikadir Mohamed Abdi (the son of Afweyne) and pirate negotiator Hersi Ali Mohamud — also known as Ali Hassan and Ali Hersi (see annexes 4.5 and 4.3.f);
– Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir Mohamed, the FGS State Minister in the Office of the President until December 2012 and currently Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs;
– Said Hassan Shire, Speaker of the Puntland Parliament;
– Ali Abdi Aware, the representative of Puntland in Djibouti during 2011, the former State Minister of the Puntland President’s Office and Presidential candidate in 2008 and 2014;
– Said Mohamed Rage, the current Minister of Ports and Marine Transport for Puntland;
– Kamal Dahir Hassan Gutale, former assistant of the TFG Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Chief of Staff of FGS President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud;
– Asha H. Elmi, wife of the former Somali Prime Minister Sa’id Shirdon and a serving Member of the Somali Federal Parliament;
– Abdiwali Mohamed Ali Gaas, the current President of Puntland;
– Eng. Nadifo Mohamed Osman, the current FGS Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction and a serving Member of the Somali Federal Parliament;
– Suri Diriye Arab, a serving Member of the Somali Federal Parliament;
– Mohamed Ali Hagaa, a serving Member of the Somali Federal Parliament and the current FGS State Minister of Defence; and
– Abdi Mohamed Abtidon, a.k.a. Abtidoon Koofi Shabaq, a serving Member of the Somali Federal Parliament.
Via: http://allafrica.com
