Hiiran/Middle Shabelle technical committee members not eligible for parliament, Interior Minister

The Minister of Interior and Federalization has declared all technical committee members in the upcoming Middle Shabelle and Hiiran state formation will not be eligible for candidacy as members of parliament in the State Assembly.

In a notice appointing the technical committee members, the Minister, Abdirahman Mohamed Hussein Odowaa also said the vote for the state president will be based on a 50+1 basis adding that in the event of failure to meet threshold, the chair of the committee will cast a vote to tilt the balance.

The conditions are contained in a notice appointing the 14 member committee whose chair is yet to be appointed.

The change of rules could be lessons from the previous state formation processes including the recent Galmudug state which saw most of the committee members vie for parliamentary seats despite seating as arbiters in the process.

The minister said he would release further instructions which will guide the process.

The Middle Shabelle/Hiiraan state formation process was slated to start at the beginning of September but was put off on grounds that stakeholders in the two regions had not agreed on the venue and the future administrative capital of the state.

The process was to end in December but with the delay and no announcement yet on the resumption, the formation process is likely to cross into 2016.

The members of the committee are: Asha Abdulle Hasan, Mohamed Ali Nur, Osman Barre Mohamed, Aisha Abuukar Osman, Abdikariin Shire Abdi, Bashir Ibrahim Osman, Osman Obrahim Ali, Mohamed Ahmed Hasan, Abdirahman Mohamed Diriye, Abdirahman Farah Hersi and Ahmed Abdirahman Abuukar.

Others are Sheikh Yusuf, Abdirahman Abdi Elmi and Abdirahim Haji Faqi.