In a ceremony held at Hotel Sahafi in the capital Mogadishu, which was attended by Somalia’s first Deputy Prime Minister, Professor Abdirahman Haji Aden, Minister of Sports who is also acting Minister of Information, Suleyman Olad Roble, the top leadership of the Somali Clerics Council and the Civil Society, independent journalists and frequently targeted news media organisations in Mogadishu were awarded the equipment.
The gesture, in recognition of Somalia being the most dangerous country for journalists in Africa, was courtesy of the Doha Centre for Media Freedom, which has donated 100 bulletproof jackets and helmets to Somali media professionals. Speaking on behalf of NUSOJ, Ali Moallim Isak, NUSOJ’s Organizing Secretary, said today marked the beginning of the equipment distribution exercise targeting journalists in Puntland and south-central regions of the country. “These bulletproof jackets and helmets will improve the safety of Somali journalists who are threatened daily by the dangers of flying shrapnel and other dangerous objects as a result of war and violence. We must support our journalists morally, but given the situation, more important than the moral support is the practical protection of and solidarity with our colleagues,” said the NUSOJ Organizing Secretary.
“On behalf of Somali journalists, we would like to sincerely thank Doha Centre for Media Freedom for the quick and robust assistance through equipment and financial donations to individual journalists as well as to families of murdered journalists,” Ali Moallim said, adding, “as NUSOJ we are very pleased to facilitate this practical support for our journalists”. Hon. Suleyman Olad Roble hailed both NUSOJ and Doha Centre for Media Freedom for the valuable gesture. Hon. Professor Abdirahman Haji Aden who officially represented the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, publicly acknowledged the tremendous safety crisis journalists are facing and stated that his government will do all it can to protect journalists.
“Since our union made all these commendable efforts to protect our journalists, we as a government responsible and mandated to protect journalists as citizens officially tell you today that all government forces have a special duty to protect with diligence any journalist that feels endangered”. “On behalf of Somali government I congratulate NUSOJ for this extraordinary service to its members and the media as whole. We also thank Doha Centre for this tangible assistance,” said Professor Abdirahman Haji Aden.
