Puntland President Criticises Local Media, Ignores Repression by Government

[Deeq A.]

Garowe (PP News Desk) — Puntlnad local media was the target of a criticism by President Said Abdullahi Deni in a speech at an event organised by Media Association of Puntland in Garowe on Saturday.

“Puntland had high profile journalists such as Abdinur Sheikh Mohammed Ishaq. Today we don’t have journalists with similar calibre who can conduct interviews or investigative reporting” said Presiden Deni.

President Deni questioned the training Puntland journalists undergo “given their poor skills and the low quality of their media output”.

President Deni questions the calibre of Puntland journalists.

Under the President’s Deni administration journalists have been court-martialed, a legal process put in place to put terrorist suspects on trial. Other measures introduced by Puntland include the centralisation of governments news. Local journalists cannot report from governments meetings or parliamentary sessions. Puntland State media distributes information and images about meetings.

Last week, Puntland authorities arrested a journalist who conducted a vox pop on a policy speech by Puntland President.

“Puntland President expects the local media to toe the government line. He criticised independence of the media necessary for any society that values political accountability. I don’t think political associations in Puntland do not share President Deni’s view ” said a researcher with one of Puntland think tanks. 

© Puntland Post, 2021

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