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President Farmaajo re-affirms fight against graft, pledges jobs for youths

Storyline:National News
President Mohamed Farmaajo proceeding to lay a wreath on honour of fallen Somali soldiers during the SNA 57th anniversary celebrations April 12, 2017 in Mogadishu. Photo: Villa Somalia Handout
President Mohamed Farmaajo proceeding to lay a wreath in honour of fallen Somali soldiers during the SNA 57th anniversary celebrations April 12, 2017 in Mogadishu. Photo: Villa Somalia Handout

President Abdullahi Farmaajo has reiterated his government’s fight against corruption warning the practice was bleeding the country and denying citizens of livelihoods.

Speaking during the 57th anniversary of the Somali National Army, President Farmaajo said he is leading the fight alongside all the senior government officials to ensure the government is corruption free.

“We, the national leaders are going to fight corruption because this is the very enemy of Somali government for the last 16 years and even before,” the president said adding, “taking lessons from all these years, we can say corruption has been detrimental to state building.”

The president’s remarks follows his pre-election campaign in which he pledged to rid the system of deep rooted graft propagated by cartels in government. Somalia to date ranks among the most corrupt countries in the world with the anti-graft watchdog Transparency International listing it alongside North Korea and South Sudan.

On the economic front, the president said his administration is determined to creating job opportunities particularly for young people graduating from universities. The UN estimates upwards of 67% of the youth in Somalia are unemployed while the IMF warned this week, this unemployment rates ‘contributes significantly to irregular migration and participation in extremist activities, including Al-Shabaab—the militant jihadist group—which is viewed as another form of employment.’

“We pledge to improve the economy to combat poverty. Our country is rich in resources and we have almost everything for livelihood, but only a peaceful country exploits its resources. We urge armed forces to secure peace and to work with Amisom and international community who are supporting us in the process of eradicating poverty, corruption and terror,” said President Farmajo.