Outgoing Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble is looking for a way he can legally accept a roundly rejected secret agreement the petroleum minister earlier this year cut with a U.S. company, which — if approved — would have given the four-year-old entity the right to explore oil and gas in the country, three Somali sources told The Somalia Star.
It’s unclear whether Roble has already acted on his desire. He only needs to write an official letter accepting Coastline Exploration’s much-criticized deal on Feb. 19 with Petroleum Minister Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed through the ministry of foreign affairs, whose minister he suspended on Tuesday.
Roble did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The shocking revelation is believed to be a part of frenetic efforts by the outgoing Cabinet and incoming officials to make use of — and even monetize — the transition period, create new realities, cut new deals with foreign entities, settle old scores and roll back policies of former President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed “Farmajo”.
And these officials appear to be in a tearing hurry.
In a span of only nine days, major policy changes that would have typically taken months of deliberation and consultation have been undertaken by the new president. On May 16, his first day in office, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud accepted — with a blithe disregard for parliament approval and for the lives of Somalis killed by American drones — a US request to deploy troops in the country. Eight days later, he accepted a European Union request to extend its 13-year-old military operation off the coast of Somalia, sources told The Star. On Tuesday, the president appointed Hussein Moallim Mohamud — a critic of the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea, both of whom allies of former President Farmajo — as his national security adviser.
Internal Security Minister Abdullahi Mohamed Nor has also quietly allowed back the importation of a Kenyan leaf called khat that was banned by President Farmajo’s administration. Sources told The Star that Nor and a Kenyan national, Kimathi Munjuri, chairman of Miraa Traders Association, had founded a new company — SomKen — to bring the stimulant leaf to Somalia. Nor did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
“If the current pattern persists, the next four years will likely be full of clan politics, revenge and disqualification of people of substance,” said Ali Abdullahi Adowe, who said he was considering whether to withdraw his application to the president for the position of prime minister.
The damning accusation against the premier came as a surprise to many. When the news of the pact emerged, he called it “illegal, unacceptable since it wasn’t done through legal avenues.”
“I will take all appropriate measures to protect our national resources,” the premier tweeted on Feb. 19.
Former President Farmajo and Auditor General Mohamed Mohamud Ali have also objected to the deal and called it “illegal” and null and void.
But, sources speculated that the allure of the Texas-based company’s millions of dollars of signature bonus may have motivated Roble to change his mind.
The three Somali sources, who shared the information with The Star on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the US company has been doggedly trying to coax Somali officials into accepting its deal.
“The suspension of Foreign Minister Abdisaid Muse was just a ploy by Prime Minister Roble to get him out of the way to use the foreign ministry’s signature,” a source said. “Roble is seeking legal means to accept the illegal deal with Coastline so as it releases to him millions of dollars. He doesn’t care about the country’s future well-being.”
Prime Minister Roble suspended Muse on Tuesday, accusing him of authorizing the release of a ship carrying Somali charcoal that was anchored at an Omani port. Muse denied the allegation, saying in a brief interview with The Star that he was “always at the forefront of the campaign to ban Somalia’s illicit charcoal trade.”
A source at Somalia’s Foreign Ministry told The Star that Muse’s suspension had nothing to do with the charcoal trade. Prime Minister Roble wanted “to milk the moment before a replacement is appointed”, the source said.
You can read the rest here what a damning report!
PM Roble seeks legal means to accept US oil company’s deal that was rejected by former President
PM Roble seeks legal means to accept US oil company’s deal that was rejected by former president
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