UDUB Diehard Supporters Switch Their Allegiance to KULMIYE Camp

[Siciid1986]

UDUB Diehard Supporters Switch Their Allegiance to KULMIYE Camp

 

 

News that more than two dozen UDUB supporters including senior party members have switched their allegiance to Somaliland’s main opposition party, KUMLIYE, on Monday is the latest political earthquake to rattle UDUB- the ruling party of Somaliland.

 

The defectors, who met with the leader of KULMIYE party, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo, at an event held in Selby Centre of North London comprised mainly of diehard UDUB supporters, senior party officials and founder members of the UDUB party in the UK. They say the main reason behind their defection is that they are fed up with the callous indifference of UDUB’s leadership to address the host of problems and critical challenges facing the country and the prevalence of the widespread corruption that rendered the country’s institutions virtually dysfunctional.

 

Notable names among those who defected to KULMIYE were included Yusuf Hersi Ahmed (famously known as Harir) who is the current treasurer of UDUB-UK, Ahmed Hassan Noor (Cunaaye), Mohammoud Yusuf Lugweyne and Abdi Hussein Iman who are all founder-members of the UDUB party in the United Kingdom.

 

The group said they had been supporters of the UDUB party since it was founded. However, they now found themselves in a position where they could no longer support “a party that is grossly incompetent and failed to fulfill its promises”.

 

This defection is further evidence of UDUB’s dwindling support, and confirms the bleak prospects ahead for the collapsing authority of president Rayale.

 

Harir said: “To illustrate this point, when the president first arrived in the United Kingdom shortly after he was elected, he was enthusiastically welcomed by the people at his first public meeting held in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea where he had made a long list of promises including a promise to deliver a lean government and a root and branch reform of the judiciary. None of the promises he had made was implemented to this date.”

 

“The president’s successive visits to the United Kingdom resulted in him not being able to face the public because of his utter failure to live up to even a tiny fraction of his election promises. He has completely squandered the public’s trust and has no longer credibility with the electorate.”

 

For his part, Silanyo commended the patriotism and sense of responsibility shown by the group. He said Somaliland is in a downward spiral in every respect. He pointed out that Berbera port, which was the country’s main economic engine, was no longer competitive. Mismanagement, a deep-rooted corruption and unnecessarily excessive tariffs led to importers and shipping companies to avoid Berbera in favour of ports in Djibouti and Bossasso of Somalia. He said the region of Sanaag is now economically linked to the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland rather than Somaliland.