Australia: Somali candidate Loses Candidacy after Somali Minister ‘Sends Money’
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A Somali woman named Sahra Ahmed Mustafe, who was also a member of Australia’s ruling party, has been completely disqualified from running for a seat and become a representative in Somali-dominated area for the Federal Parliament of Australia.
Speaking to VOA Somali Service, Sahra Ahmed said she lost her party membership and candidacy by sending money to her uncle, a minister in the Somali federal government.
She described the allegations against her as illegal and said the money she received from her minister’s uncle was a gift for her children, she said.
“What happened was wrong. They told me you were not competing. What they told me was that my nephew, who became a minister in Somalia six months ago, sent me a gift for my son on Eid because he understands and cares that I’m a single mother who raised a child alone. ”
“I told him honestly, I told him two months ago so that I would not break the law and protect him,” said Sahra, who was asked how her party leadership found out about the money sent by a federal minister in Somalia.
She also stressed that she did not receive any money from the federal government of Somalia, but received gifts from her uncle, a minister, and that it was not against the rules of her party.
However, Sahra Ahmed Mustafa has been dismissed by the ruling government in Australia for receiving payments from a foreign government.
