Siyaad Barre’s spy network tracked prisoners’ private lives closely

Evidence

Barre asked him why he refused to have his hair cut, and this statement demonstrated to Hussen that Somalia’s military leaders had followed the details of their life in prison. In the end Barre told Hussen that he had not realized how honest a prime minister Hussen was; the military investigation had discovered only $500 in his bank account. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1055