State-mandated market capture for six notaries in Puntland angers the public

[Deeq A.]

Ismail Haji Abdi: “The Housing and Public Works Ministry did not follow the established rules for notaries in Puntland .”

Garowe (PP News Desk) — Puntland State Ministry of Housing and Public Works has come under fire for a decree granting six notaries the exclusive provision of notary services in Puntland.  The Justice Unit Director of the Justice and Religious Affairs Ministry Mr Ismail Haji Abdi has criticised the decision of the Public Works Ministry for contravening Public Notaries Law, which vests in the Justice Ministry with the powers to issue notary licences.

“The Housing and Public Works Ministry did not follow the established rules for public notaries in Putland. A great number of young men and women in Puntland study law at universities and aspire to own a public notary. The decision to select only six existing notaries sends the wrong message” he said.

Puntland Public Notaries Law was ratified in 2013

Owners of public notaries excluded from the ministerial selection for notary service provision told Puntland Post that the decision of the Housing and Public Works Ministry amounts to a “state-mandated market capture”.

A public notary in Garowe.

“We deplore the violation of the  Public Notaries Law which was ratified in 2013” one public notary owner said. Another public notary owner said “the decree dissuades customers from seeking our services because they know we are nor among the anointed six”.

“We believe that the decision of the Housing and Public Works Ministry has been influenced by senior government officials who are shareholders in the six notaries selected by the Ministry. Conflict of interest is rarely discussed in Puntland, that is why nepotism is rife and seemingly unstoppable” said another public notary owner.

© Puntland Post, 2022

The post State-mandated market capture for six notaries in Puntland angers the public appeared first on Puntland Post.