British oil company accused of corrupt practices in Somalia
A British oil company headed by a former leader of Britain's ruling Conservative Party has been accused of corruption in Somalia.
Soma Oil and Gas, which is a private company chaired by Lord Michael Howard, has been accused of paying more than half a billion dollars to Somali government officials to secure an oil exploration deal signed in 2013.
The company, however, released a statement on Monday, slamming the charges as "defamatory."
The case was announced on Friday when Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said it has launched criminal investigation into Soma after receiving allegations about company’s corrupt practices in Somalia, AFP reported.
Corruption charges against the company followed investigations by the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, which has been set up to monitor infringements of arms embargoes on the two countries.
The UN investigators said the company has made USD 690,000 (630,000 euros) worth of payments, which were suspicious. They also alleged that at least USD 580,000, which had been paid since June 2014 as part of a "capacity building programme," could have been paid to Somali government officials for corrupt purposes.
Reacting to the allegations, officials at Soma released a statement saying that the UN investigators had “fundamentally misunderstood the nature, purpose and destination of the payments made.”
The statement added, “Any suggestion that any of the payments ... were improper, unlawful or gave rise to a conflict of interest is incorrect and defamatory…. Soma has always conducted its business in a completely lawful and ethical manner and will take all appropriate steps to protect its reputation.”
The deal struck by Soma in Somalia is expected to revive the impoverished country’s oil and gas industry, which has been in a state of standstill due to decades of civil war and militancy.
The allegations have been put in a 28-page report, which was submitted to the UN Security Council's sanctions committee on Monday.
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