The national union of somali journalists (nusoj) is holding its general assembly in mogadishu?s ambassador hotel on 28 ? 29 may, 2011 with the delegates from the respective regions arrived in mogadishu and some are on their way to mogadishu to the the general assembly.

Nusoj removed its previous leadership on february 10, 2011 in a meeting held at sahafi hotel in mogadishu and elected temporary office bearers whose responsibilities was to prepare general assembly where general elections of the new office bearers will be taking place.

The theme of the general assembly is: ?leadership and strategic planning congress towards strong union in solidarity with somali journalists.? And the respective delegates will decide nusoj policy for the next three years and elect the office bearers for the next 

?We are glad that today, the interim leaders of the unions have completed their transitional period and we welcome the general assembly which is a long awaited.? Said burhaan daahir ahmed, nusoj interim supreme council president, ?we are proud that it is time for the somali journalists elect their leaders for the next three years.?

Meanwhile, the national union of somali journalists is surprised by the the ifj?s statement over the armed robbery of the union office which is a biased and unbalanced information through an individual who has been removed from the office in february and omar faruk has no legitimacy to speak on behalf of the union, since he wasdemocratically removed from the office.

The national union of the somali journalists has taken these decisions after witnessing massive corruption within the union leadership, testimonies from several supposed beneficiaries of the ifj safety fund who stated that they never received any assistance, lack of executive and supreme council meeting. Our constitution states under article ten, part 3: ?the supreme council shall meet at least once in every six months?. General assembly met baidoa, somalia, 20-21 july 2006, since then, nusoj leadership failed to convene a general assembly who was to meet once a year according to our constitution under article nine, part 1: ?a general assembly (ga) shall be held once every year at such time and place as decided by the executive committee.? The former leadership also failed to hold elections due in every three years according to the constitution under article ten, part 9: which says, ?the general assembly shall elect chairperson, senior vicechairperson and vice chairpersons for a period of three years.? Which are all constitutional violations.

The union officials after noting all the above provisions in the constitution decided to remove the secretary general and the president of the supreme council, which was at the time necessary to decide to save union from a total collapse and restore the image of the union, credibility, accountability, transparency and good governance, tomaintain serving the somali journalists who are working under critical conditions in this war-torn country.

The union officials indicted omar faruk osman to the regional court in mogadishu upon receiving the information of his arrival in mogadishu on 13 march, 2011 for union money fraud, corruption and mismanagement but unfortunately he later escaped from the justice. The union officials also requested the office of the attorney general to issue a travel ban until the case against him will over, after the union officials confirmed that he was a flight risk.

The executive committee of the national union of somali journalists met an extra ordinary meeting at its office in mogadishu on 24 may, 2011 and discussed various topics on the union business and among others decided that independent bodies conduct investigations over omar faruk?s claim and that funds of the union for last two years be investigated, since it has been misused by its former secretary general, omar faruk osman.

?We are alarmed by the ifj?s statement of its claim of armed robbery of our office, but luckily we are not the only people left on the ground in mogadishu,.? Said mohammed ibrahim, nusoj interim secretary general, ?there are civil society organizations, human rights organizations and defenders government institutions, un bodies in the country and other independent organizations who can be reached fo verification and we call them to conduct a thorough independent investigation over the case.?

?We are at nusoj office and the interim office bearers have been working in the office since february 10, 2011, which was when omar was removed from the office and will not rest until we stand omar faruk a fair trail? Ibrahim added noting that the era of the lawlessness and robbery claim has gone and nusoj will not further tolerate repeated 
bare attacks on its legitimacy.

For more information, please contact:

mr. Burhaan daahir, nusoj interim president

tel: +252 61 5531300

mohammed ibrahim,

nusoj interim secretary general

tel: +252 62 273423