Garowe (Commentary) — In Puntland, the road between a authorities spokesman and a star selling a product is more and more blurred. I watched a video clip of Jama Yusuf (aka Deparani) the Spokesman of the Puntland State Presidency, selling a store that sells health diets. That may be a job he may do if he weren’t on the federal government payroll.
It constitutes a battle of curiosity to make use of the status of a public workplace to advertise personal companies. This lapse in judgement might not hassle many individuals in Puntland, who’ve turn into detached to embezzlement and political corruption ensuing from the focus of energy within the presidency of the Puntland State.
Like different civil servants, Jama Deparani is certain by Article 77 of the Puntland Structure: “The President, Vice President, Ministers, Vice Ministers and all public officers shall not interact in personal enterprise whereas in workplace.” He also needs to adhere to Article 128 on good governance: “Any personal curiosity shall be declared, and steps shall be taken to resolve any conflicts of curiosity that outcome from his/her choices.”
A cynic would possibly level to Article 77 once more, which additionally states: “The President, Vice President, Ministers, Vice Ministers and all public officers shall declare their property to the Auditor Normal within the first month of taking workplace,” and ask: Did President Deni declare his enterprise pursuits upon changing into President of Puntland in 2019, or once more in 2024 when he was re-elected?
Senior officers have reportedly used authorities authority to purchase shares in sure public notaries, whose companies obtained beneficial official recognition to sideline different less-connected notaries and denying them alternatives in each private and non-private sectors.
Political accountability is absent in Puntland. It’s a one-man political spectacle. Civil society organisations, depending on authorities handouts, are too timid to advocate for the enforcement of constitutional provisions on conflicts of curiosity in public life. The political system in Puntland is rotten to the core. A authorities spokesman moonlighting as a star selling personal companies is merely the tip of the iceberg.
Ali M. F. Hassan is a legislation undergraduate at a college in Garowe
© Puntland Publish, 2025
