The government of Somaliland revealed that it has a list of more than thirty Somaliland-born reporters on Villa Somalia pay working throughout the country but mostly in Hargeisa, the capital of the Republic of Somaliland.
Be the first to know – Follow us on [wp-svg-icons icon=”twitter-2″ wrap=”i”] @Saxafi
Both Mohamed Kahin Ahmed and Suleiman Yusuf Ali Koore, ministers for Interior and Information, respectively, unveiled a list which had been kept under wraps until now.
“I have a list of TV and other media outlets reporters in the pay of Somalia,” Kahin stated holding aloft an official-looking A4-size paper. “Until now no government official has disclosed this to you. That is because we preferred to deal with it not as a criminal act,” he added.
Minister Koore added that all the details of why and how Mogadishu was paying the reporters was in their hands.
“Payment comes from the office of the Somalia Deputy Prime Minister. We have not acted on it out of deference for the young, gullible reporters in the report in order to give them time to correct their ways,” he said.
“We know how much of the Somalia budget goes to Somaliland. Among the list in the report are well-known media figures working with TV stations, newspapers, websites and on social media and yet,” he said, “we did not take commensurate action”.
The two ministers and the Chief Commander of the Somaliland Police forces, General Mohamed Adan Sanqadhi, attended, Saturday, the opening ceremony of a training held for 50 media practitioners on ‘role of media on peace and national stability‘.
