Slain Somali-American Bashir Mohamed Mohamud was sending huge sums of money to Somalia

Kenyan government officials said he had first received millions of shillings from a top Somali government official before he channelled it back to various different banks.

The money, according to officials, sometimes moved through foreign accounts before ending up in Mogadishu, which raised suspicions.

State sources said Bashir was related to top Somali government officials, hence, the trusted money connection.

“In as much as I can’t connect the death to the money issue, there was a feeling he was channelling money to Mogadishu, which is technically at war with Kenya. It was a concern,” a senior official said in confidence. 

All sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Bashir, a structural engineer and proprietor of Infinity Developers based in Nairobi, went missing as he after left Miale Lounge in Lavington, Nairobi, where he had gone for a meeting and Idd celebrations.

Kenya and Somalia have disagreed on major issues including the miraa trade, the maritime border in the Indian Ocean and Somaliland. Diplomatic ties were severed, then there were reports of reconciliation but no improvement has been evident.

Kenyan government officials say he was funding an enemy. But there has been no confirmation if this was the reason for his murder.

In one RTGS money transfer, Bashir used a company to wire money to Sudan, which ended up in Mogadishu. He had won construction tenders worth billions of shillings in Kenya. Among them was the construction of the Sh700 million Kisumu market. Other contractors were involved.

He once accompanied President Uhuru Kenyatta in commissioning the project. It is not clear how he secured the tender.

Bashir was buried on Monday at Lang’ata Cemetery.

Source: Star