BAQUBA, Diyala province - Top local officials have accused the governor of Diyala province of siphoning off millions of dollars in refugee aid funding and are seeking his immediate removal. “The evidence we have proves that Amer al-Majmai, Diyala governor, is involved with corruption. At least 5 billion dinars [$4.3 million] has gone missing from refugee aid," Amal Omran, member of Diyala Provincial Council, told Rudaw on Wednesday. Omran said legal action has been taken and the council is preparing to vote on Majmai's impeachment. “Despite al-Majmai’s efforts to keep his position, as the provincial council we insist on stopping corruption in all governmental agencies and we are going to work on this particular case until we have justice,” said Omran. Abdul Khaliq Azawi, head of Diyala board of trustees, also confirmed in a press conference the “provincial council will investigate the missing refugee aid case next week on Tuesday, with the amount of missing money in the graft case estimated to be in the billions.” Diyala officials have earlier said at least 15,000 families from Mosul, Anbar and Salahadin provinces have been sheltered in Diyala province camps. The influx has caused the province to seek additional funds to accommodate the refugees. Tens of thousands of people has been displacing in different parts of Iraq by the war against ISIS, with the militants claiming territory in Syria and Iraqi cities, including Iraq’s second largest city Mosul. Transparency International ranked Iraq as 170 from a total of 175 countries in global corruption for the year 2014. This result puts the county ahead of Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Somalia.
