The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) commends the extraordinary role played by local journalists, including women, in the Puntland State local government election held on Tuesday, 23 July, 2024, in the three remaining districts of Garowe, Dangorayo, and Godobjiran.

Despite limited training, scarce resources, challenging working conditions, and low pay, journalists delivered extensive and thorough coverage of the election, which included reporting from two remote towns.

Journalists play a crucial role during elections by ensuring transparency, providing timely and accurate information, and giving a voice to the electorate. Their work is vital for Puntland’s nascent democracy, which benefits from informed and engaged citizens and giving voice to the candidates, who many of them were youthful women and men.

It is now over half a century since direct elections were last held in Somalia. Since 2002, Somaliland has conducted its ‘One Nomad One Vote’ elections but claims independence from the rest of Somalia. Puntland’s direct elections, a long-time dream, only became a reality in May last year.

For this particular election in the three districts, over 64,000 registered voters in 80 polling stations voted for 431 candidates contesting for 81 local government seats, according to thedata released by the Puntland ElectionCommission. 23% of the contesting candidates are women.

"Journalists in Puntland have limited experience and training in election coverage. Direct elections have been a longtime dream which only came as reality in May last year. But so far, the local journalists, with their limited resources and expertise, demonstrated exceptional work today,” said SJS Puntland representative Halimo Abdullahi Ali.

"We commend particularly the role of women journalists who are an important part of the local coverage,” she added.

To educate the voters and give updates to the general public, media coverage began weeks before the election and continued throughout election day. As the polling stations, open from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm local time, have now closed, journalists remained on duty to provide timely updates.

"We are glad that many of our members and journalists trained have benefited from those trainings conducted since 2021. We remain committed to training and supporting local journalists. We also continue advocating for journalists’ rights and access to information, recognizing their essential contribution to the democratic process in Puntland,” added SJS Puntland representative Halimo Abdullahi Ali.