Houthi leaders fight over the waste of donor funds
English - Thursday 01 October 2020 الساعة 10:47 am
Sanaa, NewsYemen, Exclusive:
Houthi leader Abdul Mohsen Tawoos, the designated leader as Minister of Water and Environment in the government of Abdulaziz bin Habtoor, accused Nabil Al-Wazir of concluding agreements with donors, manipulating donor funds and aid, and refraining from coordinating with the so-called "Supreme Council for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs."
The Houthi leader Tawoos heads this council, and it is an entity created by the Houthi militia as part of its plans to disrupt state institutions, as the new entity carries out the functions of the ministries of planning, roads, water, interior and foreign affairs, and not in the administrative structure of state agencies and institutions.
Houthi activist Osama Sari published what he said were documents on financial and administrative corruption cases for the Minister of Water in the Houthi militia government, Nabil Al-Wazir, and the UNICEF organization in Yemen.
Sari accused the Minister of Water and Environment of "misappropriating two purchase deals of cars, financed by UNICEF, at a total cost of about 670 thousand dollars, including 13 cars that were purchased for the Environmental Protection Authority in 2019, without the authority's knowledge, and they were not supplied to the authority."
Commenting on this, Houthi leader Abdul Mohsen Tawoos, Secretary General of the so-called "Board of Directors and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs", said, "What emerged from the files of the Ministry of Water and its projects in partnership with UNICEF took place outside the council."
On the pro-group Al-Hawiyah channel, Tawoos accused the leadership of the Ministry of Water of wasting donor funds, saying, "The sums granted to water projects were sufficient to deliver water to every home."
He added, "The Ministry of Water previously announced that it did not sign any agreements with donors, while it is evident through the documents that it signed several agreements without the knowledge of the Council." He said, "UNICEF intends to communicate directly with a number of government institutions, so it bears responsibility for any imbalances or corruption cases. "
The disappearance of an international grant of (10) million liters of diesel
In an indication of the Houthi militia leaders ’continuing conflict for donor funds that are supposed to be provided to the Yemeni people, Tawoos revealed an agreement with an organization to provide 15 million liters of diesel to a number of state institutions during the years 2017-2018, adding in this context:“ But no provision has been made. Only approximately 5 million liters. "
Osama Sari posted on his Facebook page what he said were official documents, accusing the leader appointed as Minister of Water, Nabil Al-Wazir, of (misappropriating an amount of about $ 199,000 from the environmental assessment campaigns project for conflict-affected areas).
Nabil Al-Wazir was also accused of (misappropriating $ 1.8 million from the budget for financing spraying campaigns to combat the cholera epidemic, embezzling spray cars, and about $ 60,000 from the budget for financing environmental inspection projects for hospitals provided by UNICEF during 2018).
Blackmail and expansion of corruption alliances
To that, an official source in the Office of the Prime Minister in the Houthi government, Dr. Abdulaziz bin Habtoor condemned what he described as (the media campaign directed against the Minister of Water and Environment, Engineer Nabil Al-Wazir, by a number of media outlets and social media platforms).
While stressing that the Council of Ministers reserves the right to refer any media institution, as well as social media platforms to the competent legal authorities, he also stressed that "no party or governmental institution will be allowed to carry out any practices of blackmail or corruption that serve those who describe it as clearly the forces of aggression."
According to the agency (Saba), which is under the control of the Houthi militia in Sana'a: "The source asked everyone who has information based on foundations, rules and legal evidence condemning this or that party to present it to the judicial authorities and bear responsibility for that."
In an indication of the escalation of the conflict, the source recalled what he described as "the directives of the revolutionary and political leaderships affirming the unity of the national ranks, especially the state institutions and not to question or diminish them.
Threatening to hang Ibn Habtoor in Tahrir
In response to the contents of the official source’s statement, Osama Sari attacked Prime Minister Abdulaziz bin Habtoor, describing him as "the biggest corrupt, and that his income comes from all the corrupt."
The Houthi activist threatened what he described as "disseminating the corruption documents of Abdulaziz bin Habtoor." He said, "It's his time, it's the turn." Sari considered the contents of the official source’s statement: "... aggression and daring in betrayal of the homeland from the prime minister to Nabil Al-Wazir."
He implicitly vowed to punish them, saying: “I swear to God, the least that the people must is to hang you in the Tahrir as a lesson to every exploitor and opportunist who exploits the wounds and pain of the country.”
Ibn Habtoor and Nabil Al-Wazir were described as “thieves that never get enough “
Meanwhile, the Houthi militia issued a decision to add ministers (Interior, Education, Technical Education and Vocational Training, Public Works and Roads, Human Rights, Local Administration) to the membership of the Board of Directors of the entity created in the name (The Supreme Council for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and International Cooperation), in what is considered as an indication of the expansion of conflict alliances to squander donor funds
