Somaliland government has today announced a ban on broadcasts by the Somali service of the British Broadcasting Corporation after allegedly violating the sovereignty of Somaliland.
Somaliland Information Minister Saleban Yusuf Ali Koore told reporters that BBC Somali broadcasts have reduced the identity and dignity of the country’s nationhood.
The minister, speaking in the Somaliland capital of Hargeisa, said that after long discussions, the government decided to suspend the BBC Somali Service on the grounds that the network has lost its neutrality among Somali-speaking people and is acting against the independence of Somaliland.
Somaliland’s Information minister said the BBC fails to recognize that Somaliland is a democratic country that has stood on its feet for the last 31 years, with multiple presidential and parliamentary elections.
“After Somaliland’s nationhood was placed in an unacceptable position by the BBC; After losing its neutrality for the Somali-speaking people; after it opposed the independence of Somaliland, from today, we have decided to suspend all the BBC’s work in Somaliland,” said minister Koore.
The Somaliland government has in the past years been on strike in the same way as VOA Somali, Universal, and others, accusing them of violating the sovereignty and existence of Somaliland.
The BBC Somali service has been the main source of news for the Somali-speaking people for the last 60 years, gaining the hearts of the Somali audience as their main source of independent news. But for the last decade, it has lost half of its audience after mixing with Somali politics and aligning with sides.
Somalilandpost