It is emerging that Somali Members of Parliament this week received in their accounts $5000 almost one week before their normal salaries, Radio Dalsan reports.
Radio Dalsan spoke to several Mps who confirmed to having received the amount.
“I checked on my account on Wednesday and there was $5000. I asked other Mps and the said they had received a similar amount. We have not had any communication what this money is” MP Mohamud Abukate told Radio Dalsan.
Somalia Mps receive a net salary of $ 3500 per month.
“It is not salary and neither is it a bonus. And every Mp has received it both pro-government and opposition aligned ” Abukate said.
The Lower House has 275 Mps and the Upper House 54 making a total of 329 Mps.
With each Mp receiving $5000 the total amount deposited by the government comes to $1,645,000 a big amount by any standard.
“The government should come clear what this money is all about. We are currently going through a tough time in Somalia. We have floods that have displaced thousands in Hirshabelle and elsewhere and an appeal for $80 by the UN issued. The government had pledged $1M which is yet to be honoured” Nur Elmi a Somalia affairs commentator told Radio Dalsan.
“There is talk among Mps that the money they received may be intended to sway any plot to come up with a motion of no confidence by the opposition against the Prime Minister. Its an appease. It had been expected that after the Speaker motion that ousted Jawari the opposition would bounce back with motion against Khaire” Hassan Isaak an analyst said.
“It could be a refund for expenses deducted from their salaries. Indeed small amount of money is deducted from MPs salaries every month for health and travel expenses, and if some of that money is leftover at the end of their term it’s distributed back” Abo Sonkor a Somalia analyst tweeted.
The Somalia government is yet to issue an official statement on this mysterious cash deposit in the account of the Mps.
