Shauna has no shares in Atoll Communications: Economic Ministry

The Ministry of Economic Development has stated that Aminath Shauna, the Policy Secretary at the President's Office, does not have shares with Atoll Communications-the media consultant for Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA).

While it has been revealed that the founder of Atoll Communications, Paul Roberts, had previously served as a community strategist at the President's Office during former President Nasheed's regime, the list of shareholders at the PR company includes Shauna's husband, Mohamed Thoriq.

As such, Shauna has been facing criticism with allegations of her involvement in the company circulating heavily on social media due to her name appearing on the economic ministry's database as the Managing Partner of Atoll Communications.

Shauna denied these allegations via Twitter on Saturday, asserting that she does not have any shares or any role at Atoll Communications. She further appealed for the economic ministry to issue a correction alongside a clarification.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs responded, confirming that Shauna has not held shares at the company since 20th February 2019. Further, they stated that the database has since been corrected and apologised for any inconvenience caused by the error.

Despite not being a shareholder of the company, many members of the public have raised questions and expressed criticism against Shauna due to her husband's status as a shareholder of the company.

Speaking to RaajjeMV, Shauna's husband Thoriq, explained that she relinquished her shares in the company when she joined the government and the company - originally under the name of Shauna & Roberts- was renamed as Atoll Communications. While emphasising that Shauna currently has no role in the company, Thoriq highlighted that the confusion arose due to an error by the economic ministry.

When asked if he considers the matter as a conflict of interest, Thoriq stated that such accusations are expected, regardless of where he is employed, due to Shauna's work mandates.

Further, he explained that Atoll Communication has worked with TMA for three weeks so far, adding that their work included providing translations of relevant local news reports and assistance in issuing two press releases.