Dr. Abdirahman Beileh, the Minister of Finance, said that his views regarding importation of miraa from Kenya were “grossly misinterpreted.”
Recently, Dr. Beileh was quoted as saying that the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) had lifted the ban imposed on importation of miraa from Kenya.
On January 26, he denied reports of ever supporting the lifting of the ban on Kenyan miraa.
While refuting such reports and calling them a “misinterpretation,” Dr. Beileh stated that the government had not placed restrictions on miraa from Ethiopia.
Furthermore, Dr. Beileh said that the government had not arrested any person over importation of miraa.
Somalia banned importation of khat from Kenya in March 2020 when the first COVID-19 case was reported in the country.