Mogadishu, December 30, 2015.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources welcomes the findings of the Independent Committee in regards to the allegations made by Somali Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG). The Prime Minister of the Federal Government of Somalia appointed the Independent Committee to conduct with diligence an investigation into the allegations leveled at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. The SEMG accused the Ministry of misusing the capacity building agreement with SOMA Oil and Gas.
The Committee found that Capacity Building Agreements, such as our current agreement with SOMA Oil and Gas is common practice. More Importantly, there was no evidence found by the Committee that the capacity building agreement with SOMA was reached on ‘quid pro quo’ basis.
In addition, the Committee continued by stating that the Ministry acted in good faith by requesting the capacity building arrangement and no special consideration has been given to SOMA Oil as result. The rationale behind the agreement is rooted in desire of the Ministry needs to build recruit or retain competent and capable employees and experts to help build Somalia’s Petroleum sector.
The Ministry is determined to build a sound basis for petroleum development in Somalia. The Ministry has commenced building the legal framework and implementing the Somali Petroleum Law. Furthermore, the Ministry has initiated negotiations between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and Federal Member States (FMS) to build a shared vision towards the petroleum sector development. The Ministry has also begun the necessary steps to build the Somali Petroleum Corporation and the Somali Petroleum Authority. Somalia is in the process of joining extractive initiative transparency industry to promote transparency, good governance, and accountability in the use of oil, gas, and mining revenues.
We fully accept the Committee’s findings and we also intend on implementing the recommendations outlined in the report. We would also like to reiterate, once again, its our commitment to conducting all our activities in a transplant and accountable manner.
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