# Ahmed Mohamed Ali 'Kismayo' (Axmed Maxamed Cali Kismaayo)

> Ahmed Mohamed Kismayo (1964-2017): BBC Somali journalist and first director of Puntland TV and Radio.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-kismayo/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who was he?

Ahmed Mohamed Ali, known as Kismayo, was a Somali journalist born in Kismayo in 1964 ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Mohamed Kismayo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Kismayo)). He went to school in Mogadishu and earned a journalism degree from the Somali National University in 1990 (same source).

## Career

He began at Radio Mogadishu in 1987 and worked there until 1991 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Kismayo)). Displaced by the war, he lived in Kismayo and then for four years in Mombasa (same source). He taught at a secondary school in Garowe from 1995 to 1997, and in 1998 helped found the magazine *Riyaaq*, which he edited (same source).

He worked for the [BBC Somali Service](/en/society/bbc-somali/) from 1997 to 2012 (same source). In 2013 he helped set up [Puntland TV](/en/institutions/state-media/) and Radio and became its first director (same source). In 2017 he briefly headed the [Puntland Electoral Commission](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/) before resigning because of illness (same source).

## Death

He died on 9 August 2017 in Hyderabad, India, where he was being treated for illness ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Kismayo)).

## In short

A Kismayo-born broadcaster who reported for the BBC for fifteen years and launched [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s state broadcaster.

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