Somalia: Puntland president hosts journalists in State House

GAROWE, Puntland - Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni Sunday hosted journalists based in the state at the State House in Garowe, moments after they held the 4th conference of the Media Association of Puntland [MAP], which was followed by elections of officials.

Puntland is the oldest Federal-State in Somalia with functional institutions including the media, whose freedom is on an upper-scale compared to the rest of the country where issues pertaining to tribulations of journalists have been synonymous.

At the conference, Deni, the 6th president of the state which was created in 1998, urged reporters and all members of media to promote unity, peace, and security, adding that officials should train upcoming journalists on their roles.

"Glad to contribute to the 4th conference of MAP Puntland in Garowe. Media is vital in our society and I encourage MAP to put more efforts in serving through educating journalists, strengthening unity, peace, and security, and preparing society for a democratic election in Puntland," he noted.

At State House, President Deni congratulated the newly elected leadership of the Organization and urged them to work for the capacity building of the Media, strengthening unity, security, and development in Puntland and throughout Somalia.

Mohamed Caynsane was elected as Media Association of Puntland [MAP] chair in the 4th GA conference. Salim Yusuf will be Vice-Chair while Naimo Muse will be Secretary. Caynsane is now serving his second term given that he was the incumbent.

Ceynsane has been praised for his great work in advocating for media rights in Puntland for the past three years in office. While there are several cases of mistreatment of journalists across Somalia, the cases are quite limited in Puntland state.

GAROWE ONLINE