Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (Somaliland)

In 2013, Mohamed Jama Abgaal was appointed Minister of Posts and Communications. He stated that before assuming office he had felt dissatisfied with being appointed to what he believed was not a major ministry, but shortly after taking office he realized that the ministry held a highly significant role. He further noted that the objectives for which the ministry had originally been established had not yet been fully achieved, due to various circumstances and constraints. He also explained that Somaliland’s telecommunications sector was effectively managed by independent private companies that had grown economically strong, while the government institutions that were expected to regulate and oversee them remained comparatively weaker, resulting in a considerable gap between the state and the private sector.^[8]

In January 2015, after a local newspaper reported that the Ministry of Posts and Communications had sold part of its compound, the ministry denied that any such sale had taken place.^[9]

In August 2017, the Federal Government of Somalia announced a telecommunications regulatory law that included Somaliland within its scope, but the Somaliland Minister of Posts and Communications stated that Somaliland is an independent state and that the Somali law does not apply to Somaliland.^[10]

In March 2019, elders from Somaliland diaspora communities living in the United Kingdom issued a press statement criticizing the Ministry of Posts and Communications, stating that it was unclear what work the ministry was undertaking for the country.^[11]

• Politics of Somaliland
• Cabinet of Somaliland