by Hassan Yusuf Nur (Bocor)
Sunday, February 09, 2014
Somalia politicians have recently been debating in several platforms which form of government best suits the country and many have came up with the idea of federal state, although the subject has been a thorny one and caused a state of confusion and controversy mainly because of lack of proper understanding and opposition from those who support unified Somalia.
As the transitional federal constitution states that two or more regions can form a federal state, many states sprung out of nowhere immediately without clear mandate and better implementation of the concept not knowing that this constitution is not final draft and requires approval from Somali people at large.
My point in this article is Hiiraan region which is located a very strategic place in central Somalia it has boundaries with Middle shabeelle, Bakool,Galgaduud, Bay, lower Shabeelle and Somali region of Ethiopia.
Economically it is one of the most fertile and productive region in Somalia in terms of agriculture and animal production, most of the livestock export from our country is from Hiiraan region, the fruit and vegetables and other crops grown from the region are consumed in every corner of Somalia and are exported as well for commercial purposes.
Hiiraan region is the only region that remained undivided out of the eight original regions that constituted the Republic of Somalia. The other regions were broken into two or three sub-regions making the other 17 regions of Somalia, while Hiiraan region remained the only undivided region.
On July 23rd, 2012, President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed issued a presidential decree that partitioned the region into: Hiiraan and Upper Shabelle which is fair according to its size and geo-political importance.
My conclusion is that Hiiraan region deserves better attention from the federal government since we are in the middle of forming our state now we expect full support from the government as we can stand alone as state and the partition of the region into two is equally justified according to its size and economic self sufficiency.
Hassan Yusuf Nur (Bocor)
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