Workers distribute food aid from the World Food Program at a refugee camp in Dolo, Somalia on July 18. 2012. JASON STRAZIUSO / AP
Somalia's government on Thursday, January 8, denied an allegation by the US government that authorities in Mogadishu destroyed an American-funded warehouse belonging to the World Food Programme and seized food aid earmarked for impoverished civilians. The US State Department said Wednesday that it has suspended all assistance from Washington to Somalia's federal government over the allegations, saying the Trump administration has "a zero-tolerance policy for waste, theft and diversion of life-saving assistance."
A senior US State Department official said authorities at the Mogadishu port demolished the warehouse of the World Food Programme, a Rome-based UN agency, at the direction of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud "with no prior notification or coordination with international donor countries, including the United States." The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private reporting from American diplomats in the region.
Somalia's foreign ministry said that the food in question wasn't destroyed and that "the commodities referenced in recent reports remain under the custody and control of the World Food Programme, including assistance provided by the United States." The foreign ministry said expansion and repurposing works at the Mogadishu port are underway as part of broader developments, but ongoing activities there have not affected the custody and distribution of humanitarian assistance.
