2021-05-12

Legal Specialist/Advisor – Hargeisa, Somaliland

Hargeisa, Somaliland
Posted on May 12, 2021

Government of Somaliland (GoSL) MoEM

Legal Specialist/Advisor – Hargeisa, Somaliland

Closing Date: 27^th May 2021

MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERALS, Government of Somaliland

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Country:	Government of Somaliland (GoSL)
Name of Project:	Somali Electricity Access Project (SEAP)
Project ID:	P165497
Assignment Title:	Legal Specialist/Advisor
Type of Appointment:	Individual Consultant
Reference No.:	SO-MOEM-226039-CS-INDV
Place of Assignment:	Hargeisa, Somaliland

Project Background

The Ministry of Energy and Minerals (the Ministry) has established a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) to carry out the day-to-day activities of project planning, coordination, and implementation of the Somali Electricity Access Project (SEAP) and the proposed Somali Electricity Sector Recovery Project. The Ministry intends to engage a consultant to provide support on legal-related issues for the World Bank – financed energy sector projects through the PIU. These Terms of Reference define the scope of activities and responsibilities of the project’s Legal Advisor.

SEAP Project Overview

The Government of Somaliland has secured a grant from the World Bank to implement the Somali Electricity Access Project (SEAP). The project development objective of SEAP is to expand access to electricity in targeted urban, peri-urban, and rural communities.

SEAP consists of three components:

Component 1: Electrification of households and small businesses through standalone solar home systems

This component aims to reduce market barriers for the private sector to provide modern energy access through solar home systems and targets (i) poorer households and small businesses in areas that cannot afford to connect to mini-grid services; (ii) households and businesses in these areas that are not sufficiently close to a mini-grid to be economically connected; (iii) isolated villages and smaller settlements where mini-grids do not make economic sense; and (iv) nomadic pastoralists whose livelihoods do not lend themselves to a fixed electricity connection. This component will fund a range of market-building supply- and demand-side interventions in response to these challenges. The proposed intervention includes: Seed and result based grants, consumer awareness and quality assurance.

Component 2: Analytic work for enabling electrification through Solar Powered / Hybrid Mini grids

This component will support the mini-grid sector in Somalia. this component is expected to include the following activities: (i) Detailed geospatial mapping, (ii) Review of property rights and land issues pertaining to energy infrastructure investment, (iii) Pre-feasibility studies for hybridization, (iv) Pre-feasibility studies for greenfield (new) sites identified in geospatial mapping, (v) Developing structuring options for the financing, operation, and ownership of new mini-grids; and (vi) Defining legal, institutional and financing arrangements for developing mini-grids.

Component 3: Technical Assistance, Capacity Building and Project Management

This component will support a range of activities to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry and overall energy sector management, power, and access planning, and provides support for project management/implementation, including staffing of the PIU.

The SEAP Project Implementation arrangements require a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) to be established under Component 3 for the smooth implementation of the Project. One of the staff required under the PIU is the Legal Advisor.

The MoEM now invites suitably qualified individuals, with qualifications and experience as detailed below to apply for the position of a Legal Advisor. The successful candidate will be required to commence work as soon as possible. The assignment shall be for a period of one year, with possibility of contract extension subject to satisfactory performance.

Objective of the Assignment

The Legal Advisor shall support the Ministry on a broad range of issues, including but not limited providing legal advice that includes all the aspects of the drafting regulations, drafting and reviewing agreements, dispute resolution analysis and any other legal input required by the Ministry. In addition, He/she will be responsible for providing support in diverse legal issues in respect to activities of the whole Ministry of Energy and Minerals.

Responsibilities and tasks

Working closely with the MoEM Legal Section and PIU, the Legal Advisor shall.

Conduct legal analysis and research on various legal matters in the Ministry’s sector Mandate.
Provide advice on different legal issues, conduct legal research on unfolding cases and assist in drafting legal opinions, memoranda, and other legal documents.

Assist in reviewing the legal material and participate in updating legal documents with conjunction of other law and regulations of Somaliland Government.

Provide advice regarding legal risks and settlement of disputes including drawing up and review of any necessary legal transactions, agreements/memoranda and monitor the implementation of the legal clauses.
Provide legal advice and drafting of MOU’s LOA’s between the Ministry and counterpart stakeholders such as International development partners, Investors, cooperatives and any other third party that required to work the sector through the Ministry.
Develop the implementation plans of the sectoral legal/regulatory frameworks and provide legal perspective solutions for mandate disputes.

Any other duties that may be assigned by his/her Supervisor from time to time in furtherance of the above responsibilities.

Qualifications
At least a bachelor’s Degree in Law from an accredited college.
A master’s degree in law or relevant discipline will be an added value.

Knowledge of the general legal framework of the Republic of Somaliland with an emphasis on Sectoral laws, public laws, and environmental laws.

A minimum of 6 years of relevant experience working in professional service providers.
Excellent team player with a proven track record of working with multi stakeholder community.
Ability to explain legal and operational issues to non-legal colleagues within the Project team and counterparties.

Strong interpersonal, communication, professional translation, and presentation skills
Minimum 5 years’ experience in working with the public sector.

Experience in drafting legal documents.
Experience in working Somaliland or regional countries with similar environment context.
Excellent command of English and Somali languages

Deliverables
A report on legal gap-analysis for the entire ministry.
Review, analysis and recommend legal loopholes for the current legal frame works of the ministry.

Review legal documents request by the Ministry’s management team and technical directors or advisors Report on legal status of the various energy disputes studied with proposed recommendations.

Legal Advisor is expected to prepare concise legal documents in both English and Somali that meets legal requirements, formats, and standards.
Time frame and Reporting

The expected duration of the consultancy is one year, with possibility of contract extension subject to satisfactory performance. The assignment is expected to commence in May 2021. The consultant will report to the Project Coordinator and work closely with Ministry.

Assignment Location

The Legal Advisor shall be based at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals main office in Hargeisa and is expected to travel sites as required. The consultant may also be called upon to undertake any other duties as determined by the Minister, including attending workshops, seminars, and technical meetings.

Inputs/facility provided by the Client.

The client will provide office space with necessary furniture and other facilities such as printing facility etc. to enable the consultant to perform day-to-day work. The Client shall also provide soft and hard copies of any existing relevant project documents e.g., manuals if any on signing of the contract.

Email Addresses:

Eng. Liban Mohamed Mohamud

Email: doe@moem-sl.com,

Copy:

Procurement Specialist

Email: ahassan@moem-sl.com