Soma Oil man lands job as PM in Somalia

Soma Oil and Gas African Executive Director Hassan Khayre is President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo’s pick for Premier, the president announced Thursday morning in a tweet before proceeding for his first official trip to Saudi Arabia.

Khayre who holds a Somali and Norwegian passport landed the job amid speculations over the president’s choice some two weeks after he was elected into office.

Prior to his appointment, Khayre has been the Executive Director for Africa of British Oil explorer Soma Oil and Gas which had been a subject of UN investigations in Somalia following allegations of bribery for favourable treatment in the award of seismic exploration contracts in Somalia.

He is also a shareholder in Soma Oil with a shareholding of 1.1% or $ 2million according to Soma Oil and Gas website.

The High Court in London however in its ruling last year observed there was ‘insufficient evidence of criminality… in relation to the ‘capacity building payments’ issue to found any realistic prospect of conviction.”  The UK’s Serious Fraud Office further dropped investigations into Soma Oil in December last year noting, ‘based on the information and material we have obtained, that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction’.

The UN Monitoring Group for Somalia and Eritrea last year ruled out any allegations of Khayre’s involvement in extremists groups and Al-Shabaab in East Africa following media reports the UN sanctioned Group had been investigating him over the links.

Prior to his Soma Oil directorship, Khayre was the regional director for Norwegian Refugee Council.

The new PM designate belongs to the Murusade sub clan of the Hawiye clan and hails from the capital Mogadishu.

The President will now have to forward his name to Parliament for approval before the PM can name a new cabinet.

The president wished him well in his new assignment and called on Somali people to support and work with him.