Djibouti: a former budget minister targeted by a "clean hands operation"

View of a street in the city of Djibouti (illustration image).

Flickr.com CC BY 2.0 Francisco Anzola

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

A former Djibouti budget minister as well as several civil servants and traders are in the crosshairs of justice for embezzlement.

In a case highly publicized by the authorities, the authorities say they are fighting against bad governance.

But some also see it as a retaliatory measure against a rival of President Ismaël Omar Guelleh. 

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Public prosecutor Djama Souleiman Ali obviously wanted to publicize the case widely.

A press release in French, another in English, addressed to the press and foreign chancelleries: an exercise in transparency rare in Djibouti, for a "clean hands operation" dismantling a network of embezzlement of several billion Djiboutian francs within of the Ministry of the Budget.

Two civil servants were arrested, as well as " 

 ", said the prosecutor, but especially Abdoulkarim Cher, who was Budget Minister until January 2, when he was suddenly dismissed by the Head of State.

If we are to believe the prosecutor, his co-defendants would have designated him as “ 

 ”.

The former minister was however released at the end of his police custody.

Abdoulkarim Cher is no stranger.

Coming from the opposition and from a powerful clan distinct from that of the president, a long-time African Union official, he was appointed minister in 2019, precisely to clean up a notoriously corrupt administration.

But in recent months, and especially thanks to the medical absences of the Head of State, he had shown, according to several observers, a certain autonomy and a certain ambition, discreetly positioning himself for the presidential election of 2026.

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• Djibouti