Kulmiye puts on a good show, but where is the beef?

[Jacaylbaro]

Having observed the pictures from the 2nd Congress of the KULMIYE party at the Ambassador hotel in Hargeisa, I was very impressed by the presentation of the congress.

 

The delegates with their official credentials, baseball caps, music, power point presentations and the delegates resplendent in their finest, but I have one question, where is the substance?

 

No new policies nor new ideas; one of the leading candidates for the Presidential elections couldn't even get in and others were so marginalised that they should have stayed at home, but above all the same failed leadership and theories were once again in evidence.

 

Somalilanders are proud of their budding democracy and unlike many other African nations have a lot of time for their politicians, but the people of Somaliland are also perceptive and can see beneath the veneer and polish of spin.

 

The people of Somaliland like their leaders to be humble and accessible, there was nothing humble about the shindig at the Ambassador, in fact, I doubt if many Somalilanders have ever seen the inside of the Ambassador Hotel.

 

I urge UCID and UDUB to hold their congress at the "Beerta Xoriyada", with minimum fuss, but with plenty of substance.

 

In terms of substance, the KULMIYE congress still has a day to go, so I am still hopeful that something concrete will come out of it, a sense of true democracy would be a start. But, I have attended many KULMIYE gatherings in the United Kingdom, and came away impressed by the presentation, but appalled by the lack of identification with the basic realities of the people of Somaliland.

 

If the Somaliland elections are to be decided on pure spectacle then, KULMIYE wins hands down, but the people of Somaliland need a leadership that unites them, responds to them, with ideas and platforms, rather than the tired cry of, "It is our turn".

 

In 1992, Neil Kinnock and the Labour party were poised to end Conservative rule in Britain before an infamous gathering at Sheffield, a case of counting your chickens before they hatch, I fear the Ambassador Congress will be just as fateful to KULMIYE, as it was to the Labour party.

 

And, we all know how that ended, with new leadership and new ideas.

 

 

Ahmed Kheyre

London, UK