Hiiraan governor dismisses state formation technical committee appointment

Hiiraan governor Abdifitah Hassan Afrah has rubbished the appointment of the technical committee for the Hiiraan/Middle Shabelle state formation by Federalization Minister as non inclusive and in breach of August agreement in Mogadishu.

Interior and Federalization Minister Abdirahman Mohamed Odowaa yesterday published a list of 14 members to the state formation technical committee with conditions they will not be eligible for elections in the state assembly.

But Afrah has protested the appointments noting that the Minister failed to adhere to the agreement in Mogadishu which was witnessed by the president and international community representatives. A communiqué from the meeting indicated that the formation committee would be composed of 31members representing the two regions-Middle Shabelle and Hiiraan.

“In accordance with the agreement in Mogadishu in August, it was agreed the committee would be made up of 31 members but the minister has gone ahead and appointed 14 members only. I was among the signatories to this agreement but the minister has not even consulted us on this appointments,” said Afrah.

Afrah, in  statement to the media has also taken issue with the Minister over the appointment of the 14 members observing that it did not meet the criteria agreed upon regarding the clan representation. “We agreed clans will be equally represented in the committee but as it is now, the minister has chosen to go against that agreement,” added Afrah.

The Hiiraan/Middle Shabelle state formation process was supposed to start in September but was postponed owing to disagreements over the host town and future administrative capital.