How much does a Somali passport really cost, including the bribes and illegal fees?
In the past few hours, there’s been a lot of talk online about Somalia’s president allegedly joining the list of Africa’s richest leaders—his wealth reportedly reaching nearly $1 billion, just a few Somali shillings short. Masha’Allah.
But the real question I’m asking is: Why did a sitting Federal MP resign from parliament after being appointed as Director of the Somali Immigration and Citizenship Agency?
Let me be clear: Our country has become a place where Somali citizens are routinely extorted and humiliated, and power is used to oppress rather than protect. Many citizens don’t even know their legal rights, and their only dream is to one day have the chance to exploit others the way they were exploited.
Case in point — look at image 3:
This EVC (mobile payment) screenshot belongs to a Somali citizen who just a day ago applied for a standard Somali passport in Mogadishu. The process cost him over $220—and sheer mental torture. He was not given even a single official receipt to prove the payments.
Here’s a breakdown of what he told me was taken from him:
• $15 USD fee for a birth certificate was inflated to $25 USD due to corruption and “checkpoints” at various offices.
• CID clearance, normally $15, was also pushed to $25 because of unofficial “conditions” set by office staff.
• Upon reaching the Immigration HQ, before even entering, he was forced to pay a $20 bribe to gain access.
• At the passport payment office, he transferred $71.5 USD to the Federal Revenue office—no receipt, no confirmation that it went to the government.
• Then at the Immigration Agency, he paid another $36.5 USD, supposedly part of the legal $108 passport fee, but this money went to a separate number controlled by the agency—again, no receipt proving government collection.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Somali Immigration Agency, Mustaf Dhuxulow, proudly claimed on the agency’s official page that he had “spoken to European officials about recognizing the new electronic passport.”
But if this is how the agency treats its own citizens, can Europe—or any country—really trust or recognize the Somali passport? How can you convince a citizen who has been humiliated and robbed by his own government that this passport has any value?
European countries—and the rest of the world—will never recognize the Somali passport as long as this runaway corruption continues. A proper legal process and transparency are mandatory in any passport system, yet for Somali agencies, all that matters is getting the EVC Plus.
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And what about our new billionaire, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud—the former teacher and street vendor who used to sell petrol on Mogadishu’s roads?
Did this money come from hard work or fall from the sky?
Is he really rich or is it just another rumor?
Some people are right to ask.
In Somalia today, every government office has become a private shop.
People no longer believe in their state or in the concept of public service—only in what they can take for themselves.
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Long live Somalia.
Af-soomaali qaybta kommentiga ka aqriso…
Oktoober24