Somalia’s parliament has voted to oust Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire on Saturday.
He was ousted through a vote of no confidence, the speaker of the house told the state news agency.
Speaker Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdirahman told the news agency that the lawmakers voted 170-8 to remove Khaire.
“We urge Somalia’s president to appoint a new prime minister,” he was quoted as saying.
BREAKING: Somali Parliament ousts Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire with 170 MPs in favour of no-confidence vote and 8 against, Speaker Mohamed Mursal announces. Mursal called on President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo to appoint a new PM who can lead the country to popular election. pic.twitter.com/kINTZfHPbX
— Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) July 25, 2020
Hassan Ali Khaire became Somalia’s prime minister in 2017 after he was appointed by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.
Khaire was the former country director of the British company, Soma Oil and Gas.
In 2017 when he was appointed it was controversial, because U.N. sanctions experts had previously accused Soma of paying Somalia’s oil ministry nearly $600,000 to protect a 2013 exploration contract.
Britain’s Serious Fraud Office investigated but found insufficient evidence to prosecute.
Somalia has been in turmoil since 1991, hit by decades of conflict at the hands of clan militias.
Over the past several years, it has faced an insurgency by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, which the government is battling with the help of regional troops.
Source: Africafeeds.com (with additional materials from Reuters)
