Hassan Ali Khaire
Hassan Ali Khaire Xasan Cali Khayre حسن علي خيري | |
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![]() Official portrait, 2020 | |
19th Prime Minister of Somalia | |
In office 1 March 2017 – 26 July 2020 | |
President | Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed |
Preceded by | Omar Sharmarke |
Succeeded by | Mahdi Mohammed Gulaid (acting) |
Personal details | |
Born | Hassan Ali Khaire 1965[citation needed] Ceelbuur, Galguduud, Somali Republic[citation needed] |
Political party | Independent |
Alma mater | University of Oslo Heriot-Watt University |
Hassan Ali Khaire (or alternatively transliterated as Hassan Ali Khayre,[1] Somali: Xasan Cali Khayre, Arabic: حسن علي خيري; born 1969[citation needed]), popularly known as Hassan Khaire,[2] is a Somali activist and former refugee to Norway, manager, politician and is the former Prime Minister of Somalia. He was appointed on 23 February 2017 by Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Faarmajo"[3] and Somali Prime Minister Hassan Khaire promptly resigned on Saturday July 25th after MPs tried to pass a vote of no confident vote without due improper process and has decided to be an example for the Somali people by resigning from the position he has held for the Somali people,” said PM Khaire, adding that he was doing so to set a good example in leadership despite the MPs move which he termed unconstitutional. [4]
Khaire is a former oil executive. He has been a regional director of the Norwegian Refugee Council charity and served as the director of the British oil company Soma Oil and Gas.[5][6]
Background[]
Early life and education[]
Hassan Ali Khaire was born in the central Somalia town of Jacar, Galgaduud,[7] some 50 kilometers from El Buur.[8][9] He graduated from primary and secondary school in Mogadishu.[10] At the onset of the civil war, Khaire moved as a refugee to Norway in 1991,[11] where he enrolled at the University of Oslo in 1994.[10]
Khaire is a dual citizen of Norway and Somalia.[12]
After graduating in 1998 with a degree in political science and minor in sociology, Khaire went on to complete his MBA at Edinburgh Business School, the graduate school of business of Heriot-Watt University, in 2001.[13][8]
Career[]
Early career[]
After graduation, he moved back to Oslo where he began working with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in 2002[9] at their headquarters as a coordinator for their readiness forces.[14]
Khaire briefly left the NGO for a few years to pursue business endeavors but in 2006 he returned to the NRC as an area manager.[14] He remained at the NRC for another nine years as he worked his way up to County Director and eventually the Regional Director for the Horn of Africa.[14]
Soma Oil & Gas[]
After nearly a decade in the NGO field, Khaire moved on to the public sector joining Soma Oil & Gas as an Executive Director for Africa. According to the company's website, Hassan Khaire has been with the company since its inception in 2013.[15]
In February 2016, a leaked memo, sent by a United Nations watchdog to diplomats in the United Kingdom and Norway, revealed that the executive director for Africa at Soma Oil and Gas was under investigation by the United Nations Monitoring group for Somalia and Eritrea for possible ties to extremist groups in East Africa, including al-Shabaab, which had claimed responsibility for a series of deadly terrorist attacks in Somalia.[16] The UN letter, dated 17 February 2016, showed investigators raised concerns over Khaire's possible links to extremist groups after obtaining his “electronic contact list”, which it analysed with the cooperation of an unidentified UN member state.They all maintained their innocence from the beginning and were eventually cleared by their accusers after rigorous scrutiny. The UN Somalia Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG) said that it "has not found credible evidence of such links and that, in the absence of any new information received by the SEMG clearly demonstrating such links, we now consider this line of inquiry to have reached a conclusion.”[17]
Soma has also been under investigation for corruption, but the investigation was dropped because of lack of evidence, although the investigators maintained that there were still reasons for suspicions.[18][19]
On 23 February 2017, Soma Oil & Gas announced on their website the resignation of Khaire as the Executive Director for Africa.[15]
Prime Minister[]
On 23 February 2017, President Mohamed announced on Twitter the appointment of Khaire as the new Prime Minister of Somalia.[20] Prior to his appointment, Khaire had never held public office, although over the course of his career he has worked with a range of high-level executives and government officials in various capacities.
In a session held on 1 March 2017, Members of Parliament overwhelmingly approved Khaire's appointment as Prime Minister, 231 of the MPs endorsed the selection.[21] On 21 March 2017, Khaire thanked lawmakers for their overwhelming support and submitted his nomination for the Cabinet Ministers Somalia, on 29 March 2017 it was approved by parliament.[22]
He also vowed to tackle corruption by prosecuting individuals involved, regardless of their position, and chaired his first official Cabinet meeting, he reminded the gathered Ministers of his and their duties as statesmen, noting that the administration's focus should be on strengthening the security sector, accelerating institutional reform. Some regional governments, however, have accused Mr. Khaire for disregarding the Federal constitution.[22]
Motion of no confidence and resignation[]
On 25 July 2020, the Speaker of the House of the People of the Federal Parliament, Mohamed Mursal, announced in a press statement that 170 MPs had withdrawn confidence in Khaire’s government, accusing the Prime Minister of failing to deliver promises including improving the national security and implementing a timely one person, one vote election.[23][24] Members of the cabinet, however, disputed the legality of the motion and have accused the Speaker of failing to respect the parliamentary rule of procedure.[25] The Embassy of the United States in Somalia has expressed concern over the “irregularities” of the voting process[26] and the High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, has released a statement regretting that the motion of no-confidence did not meet the constitutional requirements.[27]
At the time of the parliament motion, the Prime Minister was away to Dhuusamareeb, Galmudug, where he attended a Federal Government and Federal Member States talks over national elections.[28] After his return to Mogadishu, he released a short statement calling the process of the motion of no-confidence unconstitutional and offering his resignation to “set a good example in leadership” and to ease the tensions.[29]
References[]
- ^ https://www.state.gov/under-secretary-for-political-affairs-david-hale-meeting-with-somali-prime-minister-hassan-ali-khayre/
- ^ "Eritrea delegation in Somalia to deepen bilateral relations". 14 August 2018.
- ^ M. "Somali new president appoints Hassan Ali Khaire as prime minister". Mareeg.com. Retrieved 2017-02-26.[permanent dead link] and "Parliament unanimously endorses Hassan Khaire as new PM". Goobjoog News. 1 March 2017.
- ^ "Somalia PM Hassan Khaire resigns after no-confidence vote". The East African. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
- ^ Sætran, Frode. "Nordmann ny statsminister i Somalia". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
- ^ Guled, Abdi. "Somalia's new president appoints prime minister". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
- ^ "حسن خيري.. "دفة التوازن" القبلي تقود الحكومة الصومالية" (in Arabic). AR.HABERLER.COM. 25 February 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "من هو رئيس وزراء الصومال الجديد حسن خيري؟" (in Arabic). Al Jazeera. 24 February 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "الصومال: فرماجو يعين رئيسا للوزراء بتغريدة" (in Arabic). Aawsat. 24 February 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Who is Hassan Ali Khaire, Somalia's new Prime Minister?". IB Times. 24 February 2017.
- ^ "من هو رئيس الوزراء الجديد حسن علي خيري ؟" (in Arabic). Mogadishu Center for Research and Studies. 23 February 2017.
- ^ Aase, Kari Aarstad; Braaten, Magnus. "Norske Hassan ny statsminister i Somalia". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2017-02-24.
- ^ "የኦስሎ ዩንቨርሲቲ ምሩቁ የሱማሊያው አዲሱ ጠቅላይ ሚንስትር ማናቸው? ጠ/ሚሩ የካቢኔ አባሎቻቸውን ትናንት አስተዋውቀዋል። Somalian PM announced his cabinet ministers[permanent dead link]" (22 March 2017) at Ethio Explorer
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Prime Minister". Somali Embassy in the United Arab Emirates. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Resignation of Hassan Khaire on his appointment as Prime Minister of Somalia - Soma Oil & Gas". Soma Oil & Gas. 2017-02-23. Archived from the original on 2017-02-24. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
- ^ (BuzzFeed), Siraj Datoo. "Somalia-amp-Eritrea-Monitoring-Group". DocumentCloud. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
- ^ Ball, James. "Soma Oil Executive Cleared Of "Extremist Links" By UN Investigation". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
- ^ "Serious Fraud Office Closes Corruption Investigation of Soma Oil". The Wall Street Journal. 15 December 2016.
- ^ "Executive of oil company chaired by Michael Howard investigated by UN over links to al-Shabaab". The Independent. 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
- ^ "Mohamed A. Farmaajo on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
- ^ "Hassan Ali Khaire confirmed as Prime Minister by Parliament, vows to tackle corruption". Hiiraan Online. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "PM Khaire announces 27 member cabinet". Hiiraan Online. 21 March 2017.
- ^ "Somalia's parliament votes to remove PM Hassan Ali Khaire". Al Jazeera. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ Sheikh, Abdi (25 July 2020). "Somalia's parliament ousts prime minister in no-confidence vote". Reuters. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ Hassan, Mohamed (25 July 2020). "Somalia's Parliament Votes Out Prime Minister". VOA. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ "United States Concerned Over Irregularities of No-confidence Vote; Somalia's Future Elections Process". USEmbassy.gov. U.S. Embassy in Somalia. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ "Somalia: Statement by the High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell on the recent developments in the House of people". Europa.eu. European External Action Service. 26 July 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ Jamal, Mohamed (23 July 2020). "FGS, FMS Conference Concludes In Dhusamareb". SONNA.so. Somali National News Agency. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ Khalif, Abdulkadir (28 July 2020). "Somalia PM Hassan Khaire resigns after no-confidence vote". The East African. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
External link[]
Media related to Hassan Ali Khaire at Wikimedia Commons
- 1968 births
- 21st-century prime ministers of Somalia
- Alumni of Heriot-Watt University
- Living people
- Naturalised citizens of Norway
- Prime Ministers of Somalia
- Refugees in Norway
- Somalian emigrants to Norway
- Somalian refugees
- University of Oslo alumni