Auditor General declares Coastline oil deal unlawful, calls for investigations

GOOBJOOG NEWS/MOGADISHU: The Office of the Auditor General has released a statement on the recent announcement of an oil’s deal between the Somali government and a U.S company known as Coastline Exploration Ltd.

The Office of the Auditor General has said that the Petroleum Ministry had signed, “an unlawful agreement” and called upon all relevant  agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to launch investigations into the matter to determine whether there were any corrupt dealings with the oil contract.

The Auditor General also said that his office would file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office and called on Prime Minister Roble to immediately suspend all those implicated in the matter.

Coastline Exploration had announced on February 19 that it had inked an oil’s deal with the Federal government of Somalia. It’s CEO, William Anderson said that the Somali government and the Minister of Petroleum had worked to ensure the required legal and policy infrastructure was in place.

The plot thickened further when Coastline reported that high-ranking officials from the Somali Petroleum Authority (SPA) had witnessed the signing ceremony.

Also, a statement from the Minister of Petroleum quoted the chairman of SPA, Abdulkadir Aden Mohamud saying, “the agency was in a position to “move this critical industry forward on behalf of the Somali people in partnership with our international partners”.

However, the Farmaajo administration has distanced itself from the allegations, raising questions as to whose authority the Petroleum Minister Abdirashid Ahmed exercised in inking the deal with Coastline Exploration.