Hiiraan Online

Mogadishu (HOL) — Somali international football referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan has accused government insiders of widespread corruption in the country’s passport system, warning that the misuse of official travel documents is damaging Somalia’s security and international credibility.

In a statement posted to Facebook on Monday, Artan said passports reserved for civil servants and diplomats are increasingly ending up in the hands of people with no ties to government, including social media influencers.

“What is destroying the reputation of our country’s passports begins with our government before it even reaches our people,” Artan wrote. “How did it happen that passports meant for civil servants and diplomats are now being carried by anyone. TikTokers and people with no knowledge of or connection to government?”

Artan, who has officiated at international tournaments on behalf of FIFA, framed his remarks as part of his civic responsibility, saying the credibility of Somalia’s passports directly affects domestic security and the nation’s standing abroad. He called on authorities to launch urgent reforms, including stricter verification, enhanced monitoring of passport issuance, and stronger accountability measures to curb insider abuse.

“The world no longer trusts us, because corruption has infiltrated everywhere.”

His remarks follow repeated findings that Somalia’s immigration and identity systems remain vulnerable to fraud. A 2024 forensic audit by the Auditor General uncovered $25.9 million in embezzled funds from work permits and passport services, leading to convictions of 11 officers and accusations against 22 more across the Immigration Department, the Finance Ministry, and the Central Bank.

Somalia also ranked 179th out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, with a score of just 9/100, underscoring the depth of corruption in public services such as passport issuance.

The credibility of Somali passports has been at the center of recent controversies. Earlier this year, former Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble was denied clearance to use a diplomatic passport and traveled to South Africa on his Swedish papers, a move that prompted allegations of politicization from his allies. The Foreign Ministry rejected those claims, saying no official denial had been issued and accusing critics of spreading misinformation.

Misuse of diplomatic and civil-service passports is not unique to Somalia. In the Comoros Islands, a citizenship-by-investment scheme was so badly abused that thousands of passports were sold outside legal channels through “mafia” networks, prompting a parliamentary investigation. Former Presidents Ahmed Abdallah Sambi and Ikililou Dhoinine were implicated, and Sambi received a life sentence in 2022 for illegally selling passports and pocketing state funds.

In Sierra Leone, too, court records show that senior officials improperly requested official service passports for people with no entitlement, triggering anti-corruption prosecutions.

Somalia’s passport remains among the weakest in the world despite modest gains in recent years. The Henley Passport Index ranked it 102nd globally in 2025, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to just 35 destinations, a slight improvement from 2021 when it placed 106th with access to fewer than three dozen countries. By contrast, regional peers such as Kenya and Ethiopia enjoy far greater mobility, underscoring how corruption and weak governance continue to weigh on Somalia’s international credibility.