Children of Somali dictator who massacred 200,000 living quietly in Ohio, linked to $1.8M Medicare-funded home health firm

The children of former Somali dictator Siad Barre, who was responsible for the killing of up to 200,000 people, have been living in Ohio while connected to a home healthcare business that has received over a million dollars in Medicare funding.

Ayanle Mohamed Siad and his sister, Deka Mohamed Siad, have been living in Columbus, Ohio, after coming to the US following their father’s overthrow in 1991. Deka and her late husband, former Somali ambassador Abdikarim Ali Omar, ran Vanguard Home Health Care, a company that received more than $1.8 million in Medicare funding, according to the New York Post. The company closed after Omar’s death in 2021.

Barre seized power in Somalia for roughly 21 years before being overthrown. Ayanle has been accused of serving as head of Barre’s administration in the final years of the dictatorship. He currently lives in a $350,000 house with his wife and son, and his presence has left many in the Somali community outraged.

“Siad Barre and his men committed so many war crimes so I was shocked to see his son [Ayanle] in the mosque enjoying his freedom,” one Somali, Ali-Guban Mohamed, told the New York Post. “My family were rounded up in a small township called Agabur and executed. Their bodies were put into a well, and that was happening across the board.”

“It was a 21-year military dictatorship, one man rule and a bunch of his men. Siad Barre dictated where you could go, where you could live, where you can travel,” he continued.

Mohammad, who came to the US after Barre ordered the massacre of civilians in the Isaaq clan, said that “not a single person had been held accountable for the genocide that took place,” under Barre’s rule.

“It feels very bad to know Ayanle is here. Others are scared to speak out but I don’t care. People need to know the truth. He was supposed to be the one who took over from his father, like Saddam Hussein’s son.”

Despite his atrocities, Barre is celebrated by the Somali Museum of Ohio, which has referred to him as its “honorable grandfather.”