Main points

• Somalia continues to rank at the bottom of corruption and governance indices, suggesting that corruption remains widespread and systemic in the country.
• Somalia is suffering from an extended conflict and ongoing humanitarian crisis, with millions internally displaced and in need of support, meaning that the public funds and aid lost to corruption are directly worsening the living conditions of the population.
• Forms of corruption emphasised in the literature include bribery, which is commonplace both in everyday interactions between public officials and citizens, as well as bribery involving senior politicians and decision-makers. The misappropriation of public funds (including of aid) is also widespread along with favourtism and nepotism in the public sector. Land corruption is another form of corruption that severely affects the population, with land grabs and illegal evictions common throughout the country, causing further instability for a population already living through a humanitarian crisis.
• The evidence suggests that corruption is largely driven by the instability caused by the conflict and clan-based patronage systems, as well as weak oversight and internal controls within the public sector.
• The country’s anti-corruption institutional framework has recently been strengthened. However, the disbanding of the national anti-corruption agency (the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission) in 2022 has weakened independent oversight and there has yet to be a replacement for the agency’s functions.
• Civil society and the independent media are also restricted in the country, with vertical accountability mechanisms, in particular freedom of association and expression of press, generally weak.