20% of Somali Region budget stolen by Ethiopia's Finance minister!

[Mohamedamiin120]

Ahmed Shidle, the Finance minister of Ethiopia has been exposed, he and his close relatives- with support from Cagjar- have plundered 20% of DDS's budget! Officials benefiting off this include...

Abdikadar Rashid Duale, head of Somali Region Security Office. He basically was the muscle of the operation, kept a lid on it.
Salah Ahmed, vise-president of Jigjiga University. Used his position at the Uni to launder big money (most bold? By giving aid to kids that don't exist!)
Mustafe Cagjar, president of Somali region. Its a symbiotic relationship, Shidle keeps him funded and in good company with Abiy. All he must do is be quiet. Infact Ahmed Shidle told him "You will stay in power as long as we keep our collaboration" (a DIRECT quote!)

The linchpin of this operation however was Ahmed's sister-Khadra Shidle- she basically diverted money to enable this whole roller coaster. She created contracts which never existed, created shell companies for her brother, and inflated existing contracts to divert TWENTY percent of Galbeed's budget!

This piece is 1/2 of a ongoing investigation by Wardheer news.

Now we ALL know why Wardheer's website DID NOT WORK for WEEKS- they tried to shut them up!

https://wardheernews.com/temporary-title-111053/

 

[Sigmundd]

BOOST

 

[Idilinaa]

I will ignore the specifics about the corruption claim against the Finance Minister for now since they really haven't provided evidence for that yet but it's not unthinkable since the Ethiopian Federal government is kinda known for it.
But to me from looking at the surface of it sounds like they are politicizing his clan or federal govt ties to levy these accusations. But we will see what they have.

Despite billions in federal transfers, Somali Region remains one of Ethiopia’s poorest and least developed regions. The alleged corruption has had devastating effects:

a) Chronic poverty despite federal investment.
b) Unemployment and displacement of youth.
c) Collapse of trust in government institutions.
d) Brain drain, as educated Somalis leave the region in despair.
e) Local voices describe the situation as “a state captured by one family, with development stolen before it even begins.”

I will place my response from the other thread to these specific claims above:.

This claim is provably false.

First, it completely removes the context that the Somali Region received virtually no development support before 2018 and was militarily suppressed by the TPLF-led federal government. It was deliberately marginalized and underdeveloped for decades, which is why it lagged far behind other regions. Any fair assessment of its current trajectory must weigh new progress against that backdrop of historic repression and neglect.

You can read more on this background here:

Peace, Politics, And Progress: The Transformation Of Somali Region

The Somali Region, historically plagued by decades of conflict and political marginalization, has undergone a remarkable transformation since the Ethiopian

www.thereporterethiopia.com

Now, let’s address the specific false allegations one by one:

a) “Chronic poverty despite federal investment”

In reality, wealth and incomes have risen significantly in Ogaden since 2018. Financial inclusion has expanded rapidly , the region had been far behind even neighboring Somalia in this area due to past economic repression. With new access to banking, credit, and entrepreneurship, income and business development have grown steadily.
The Reporter Ethiopia — Financial inclusion fueling growth

b) “Unemployment and displacement of youth”

This is also inaccurate. Youth unemployment has declined thanks to large-scale investments in vocational skills training programs rolled out across the region. These programs are equipping thousands of young people with employable skills, which is the opposite of displacement.

Dawan Africa - Uncovering the Continent Through Its Own Lens

Discover the latest news, stories, and insights from across Africa. Your trusted source for African perspectives on politics, culture, business, and more.

mogadishu24.com

https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-regional-state-sees-surge-in-vocational-skills-graduates

c) “Collapse of trust in government institutions”

On the contrary, trust in government and institutions has been growing, as seen in rising tax compliance and revenue collection. This shows increasing public engagement with and confidence in local governance.

https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-regional-state-surpasses-revenue-targets-for-20242025-fiscal-year

Economic observers have even compared the Somali Region’s post-2018 trajectory to fast-industrializing nations, noting that it is rewriting the script for post-conflict recovery:

d) “Brain drain”

This is simply not supported by evidence. In fact, the Somali Region has one of the lowest outward migration rates in Ethiopia. There is no large-scale exodus of educated youth.

e) “No real development ‘a state captured by one family’”

This is baseless. There has been extensive development across the Somali Region since 2018, in infrastructure, education, healthcare, and business. Suggesting that “development is stolen before it begins” is completely detached from reality.

I listed a lot of it in another thread:

Post-2018, the Somali Region has:

- Inaugurated its first car assembly plant in Jigjiga

- Grown to over 300 industries (small, medium, and large) created in just 6 years

- Collected 95% of its planned annual revenue (17.6 billion birr) by mid-year , indicating strong local revenue generation

- Built 576 primary schools, 79 secondary schools, and 11 boarding schools

- Increased the education budget by 40% this year alone

- Expanded 24-hour power supply to 58 urban centers, including 18 district capitals

- Increased Jigjiga’s electricity capacity from 12 MVA to 31.5 MVA

- Planted thousands of trees across public institutions as part of the Green Legacy initiative

- Committed to produce 28 million quintals of cereals this year , a 100% increase from last year

- Purchased 168 new tractors to support agricultural mechanization

- Launched major poultry and marble/granite industries in Sitti Zone, including Ethiopia’s largest marble factory

- Saw marked reduction in food prices (e.g., wheat dropped from 6,000 birr to 4,500 birr per quintal)

- Constructed 2,020 km of gravel roads and maintained 1,128 km over the last six years

- Inaugurated new asphalt roads in towns like Kebridahar

- Drastically improved infrastructure in conflict-prone areas like Nogob Zone: schools, roads, water systems, hospitals, micro-dams, etc.

- Increased clean water access from 19% to 51% for the region's 25 million residents

- Completed 42 major water supply projects, including 13 in Jigjiga and 29 in other areas

This actually shows what’s possible when Somalis are simply left to govern themselves: peace, development, and real progress. The post-2018 transformation of the Somali Region is living proof.

 

[The Oponian Guild]

5 million inhabitants and only able to collect 100 million dollars in taxes yikes, PL home to a million and collects thrice that amount. Some real wealth disparity.

 

[Mohamedamiin120]

5 million inhabitants and only able to collect 100 million dollars in taxes yikes, PL home to a million and collects thrice that amount. Some real wealth disparity.

Not a wealth disparity, ppl in Ethiopia just don't pay taxes because of how crazy they are.

Here is a article explaining it, mind you this story is from ADDIS (literal capital) it's 10x worse in the Regions.

Tax evasion is rife in Ethiopia despite the government crackdown

Business owners in Addis Ababa openly admit to engaging in largescale tax evasion, which exposes the shortcomings of the Ethiopian tax authority

blogs.lse.ac.uk

 

[Idilinaa]

5 million inhabitants and only able to collect 100 million dollars in taxes yikes, PL home to a million and collects thrice that amount. Some real wealth disparity.

Not a wealth disparity, ppl in Ethiopia just don't pay taxes because of how crazy they are.

Here is a article explaining it, mind you this story is from ADDIS (literal capital) it's 10x worse in the Regions.

Tax evasion is rife in Ethiopia despite the government crackdown

Business owners in Addis Ababa openly admit to engaging in largescale tax evasion, which exposes the shortcomings of the Ethiopian tax authority

blogs.lse.ac.uk

Both the Addis government and Puntland are not even remotely comparable. In the Somali Regional State, they only began formally collecting taxes about six years ago. At the very start, they were able to collect just 3 billion birr (around 20 million USD) because they were starting from a very small tax base and have since been trying to widen it over the years.

Now, they have managed to collect 18 billion birr (around 330 million USD) which is a fifteenfold leap, is a very rapid rate of growth in government revenue. That’s about 400–500% faster than Ethiopia’s national revenue growth over the same period.

You should judge Somali Region from its starting point not purely by its current size because it misses the significance of this turnaround.

They have collected nearly the same amount 95% of it by mid-year now and are set to collect 32 billion Birr. It's because of the tax reforms but now they are trying to implement technologies to capture more of the wealth/revenue in the country:

Ethiopia: State Plans New Taxes to Strengthen Revenue Base

Somali State Revenue Bureau announced ambitions to expand tax revenue mechanisms as the national tax reform initiative enabled it to secure over 9 billion Birr from tax.

allafrica.com

This part is actually pretty telling because it hints at how Somali Region is tied economically tied into the Somali-speaking Horn of Africa network than to the Ethiopian highland economy because it contraband trade with Somalia, Kenya, and Djibouti and not with interior Ethiopia.

This is big part of the reason why collecting tax is complicated because so much trade is happening informally across international borders which implies that a lot of economic activity bypasses the state and its formal systems (customs, taxation, regulation).