HARGEISA (SD) – Employees of Somaliland’s Ministry of Health are complaining that they did not receive their salaries paid by UNFPA.

The director of the Ministry of Health, Ahmed Abdi Xergeye, has for the last six months reportedly blocked the allowances given by UNFPA to midwives and nurses working in the hospitals in Hargeisa.

According to the local media, the UNFPA has directly deposited the money into the Ministry of Health’s Dahabshiil account.

The administration and finance department that prepares the payment of salaries to the midwives and nurses working in the Hargeisa nurseries have not released the funds, as these workers are facing difficult economic conditions at a time when inflation is high and life is getting harder.

Director Xergeye kept the frontline worker’s wages for April, May and June in 2021, telling them that their salaries were used by the government for the elections that took place in May 2021.

A widespread corruption at the Ministry of Health is reportedly causing workers not to receive UNFPA subsidized salaries for six months this year while they are still looking for the salary for three months in 2021.