Hirsi – Wadani Party Chairman – Behind Bars in UK

The Wadani party leader Hersi Hassan was arrested for allegedly using a fraudulently obtained British passport to enter Britain on July, 2023.

When British National Crime Agency (NCA) authorities questioned Hersi his identity, under oath, he adamantly said that he obtained the passport legally, and he was born in Aden, Yemen. Even though the British authorities knew that he was lying under oath, which is a felony crime.

The British authorities knew that he was the former chief of staff of President Silanyo and was a member of President Silanyo delegation who met British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, during the Somalia London conference in 2012.

Moreover, the NCA knew that he used multiple different passports, including Djibouti and Somaliland passports with different names and date of birth, to enter Britain multiple times! Hersi also has a digital online footprint where anyone can check his identity.

Hersi’s ‘blatant lies’ finally caught up to him. If he had told the truth to the NCA how he obtained the passport, his lawyers would have had a better chance of saving him from going to jail.

Maybe, Hersi thought the British system of government is like a Banana Republic.

Unlike Somaliland where is no accountability, even if a government official commit serious crime, including attempted murder of newborns, rape, and stealing from the treasury because a corrupt clan elders and others will always protect the bad people, for money, or for clan identity.

The British Foreign office calls British passports “the most highly valued travel document in the world.” The department opened thousands of investigations into passport and visa fraud worldwide last year, leading to 1,250 arrests.

The use of a fraudulently obtained passport provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of £250,000. Sentences are imposed by a crown court judge based upon the British Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

The details of his arrest were contained in the charging documents. He hired expensive lawyers, and he is out on bail with an ankle monitor, to track his movement. He is waiting for a trial in a Crown court in London. His fate depends on the verdict of a British jury in a court of law.

13 years ago, Hersi was an employee of Dahabshiil money transfer who became a Chief of Staff to the Silanyo administration in 2010. Because of the poor health of President Silanyo, he became the de-facto leader of the country during the Silanyo presidency.

During his tenure at Silanyo administration, he broke the public’s trust, exploited his position as public official and financially enriched himself and his cohorts by embezzling aid money and public funds intended for development and infrastructures.

Hersi used every opportunity to blatantly abuse his power, and to undermine the rule of law, judicial system, and our national security, by waging communal violence in Buuhoodle township areas (Kalshaale).

The checks and balances to hold him accountable never existed at Somaliland legislature because former Speaker Cirro colluded with Hirsi to make the legislature irrelevant. As a result, he corrupted the integrity of the institutions of our system of government to benefit his former employer Dahabshiil and others. To not only ignore but to allow Hersi to be the leader of a major party is a travesty of justice.

Hersi’s abuses of power and his alleged corruption were massive: He repeatedly deployed during midnight raids the RRU, a British trained anti-terrorist force unit, to harass, coerce and intimidate journalists and his political opponents. For instance, on June 2, 2014, a unit of the Rapid Response team, with masked faces, at 2 am raided the home of former Somaliland’s deputy Security Minister, Abdullahi Abokar— brutalizing him, his wife and his five children (ages 9 months to 9 years old).

After the British courts decide on his legal troubles, we need a special prosecutor to investigate Hersi’s power abuses, his embezzlement of national Treasury, and his role in the insurrection in Las-Anood, and Oof-Wareen armed thugs hiding in Gacan-Libaah mountains.

There is a report that he bought a multi-million house in London!

And if President Bihi fails to do so, many people would think that Bihi himself is an enabler or complicit in covering up Hersi’s misdeeds. Ignoring Hersi’s power abuses and corruption would only invite more abuses, more theft of public funds, and more nepotism.

We can’t have a two-tier justice system or rules: One for government officials and the well connected, and the other for ordinary people. But if we don’t hold him accountable for the power abuses and the massive corruption he presided over duration. Silanyo administration, all Somalilanders will be the losers.

In this scenario, the culture of impunity of corrupt officials will prevail, and that is bad for the nation..
.
We must demand transparency and accountability from our public officials, and to adhere to the rule of law. This madness must stop, but it is up to us. We must hold accountable people like Hersi who abused their power.

Ali-Guban Mohamed, Editor & Founder, Gubanmedia.com

Disclaimer: View and opinion expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Somaliland Intellectuals Institute (SII). SII seeks to publish well-argued, policy-oriented articles on Somaliland foreign policy and nation's priorities in education, healthcare, economy, energy, and infrastructure