Rift emerges within Somali community

By Nicholas Wassajja
Sunday, October 19, 2014

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Mistrust and confusion has emerged within the Somali community living in Uganda with a section of the members accusing the first secretary at the Somali embassy Ali Mohamed of acquiring money by false pretence, intimidation and promoting tribalism.

Lead by the global association of Somali youth in Uganda (GASYU) which largely lives in Kisenyi a Kampala suburb, they allege that Mohamed took shs1 million from the elders of the community to stand as a surety in court for a one Ali Ahmed Deko, a thing he never fulfilled.

Ugandan police recently arrested suspected Islamist Al-Shabaab who had allegedly planned to carry out bomb attacks following Ugandan troops in Somalia, reportedly providing intelligence that helped US Special Forces kill the Al-Shabaab's chief.

Among those that appeared in court to plead for bail was Ali Ahmed Deko who never got it because his surety (Ali Mohamed) failed to pay the court charges yet he had been given the money by community elders.

Mohamed Kalif the coordinator of the Somali Community Association told New Vision that, “Ali Mohamed who is a diplomat representing our country in Uganda convinced community elders that Deko will receive bail if they gave him one million to stand as a surety but he failed to pay the money.”

“When Deko was brought back to court, Ali Mohamed again stood as her surety but this time, the judge doubted his diplomacy profile and sent him to the ministry of foreign affairs for clarification hence sending the young lady on remand at Luzira prison,” Kalif explained.

Abdul Mohamed Ali the chairperson GASYU accuses Ali Mohamed of promoting tribalism and intimidating the youth in the community.

He said, “We are soon having elections for the association leadership but the first secretary is involving himself in the exercise. He goes around campaigning for his relatives along tribal lines and uses intimidating language against students and other youth in community.”

Our efforts to contact Ali Mohamed for a comment were futile as his known numbers were off for the better half of the day.

Abdul however called upon government and the office of the prime minister which is directly responsible for them to intervene and resolve the disputes before their disagreements go out of control.

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