Kulmiye Party is an Emerging Modern and Pluristic Party By: S. Egeh

Word of the day: “Time to plant the seeds for a new 21st century leadership model for Somaliland, in the post colonial failed/collapsed state era”

“If you want to lead, you first need to start with yourself by showing self discipline and self control”. Harry Truman

“The governing should have the consent of the governed”. Thomas Jefferson-President

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. Philosopher George Santayana.

Introduction
I would like to advise president Rayaale and his administration, that the on going intimidation tactics they are using against Kulmiye party and other opposition politicians and supporters will not work. That is a sign of desperation which is nothing but an exercise on futility. I am hoping the administration will listen to the peoples’ aspirations and let freedom ring. I expect them to lead the country through a smooth and peaceful transition of power. The time they have to work hard to preserve their legacy is now.
Kulmiye is the preeminent party of the hour. It is the majority party which enjoys the overwhelming support of Somaliland public. It is the party that has the backing of most of Somaliland Diasporas. Needless to say, It was the party that lost by less than 50 votes in the last presidential elections, and just walked away. This is the party that will take the nation from the political doldrums and carried it forward into the sunshine of democracy, rule of law and the respect for the constitution. .
Thousands have died for the liberation of this country from the yolk of Siyad Barre’s genocidal dictatorship and the never was doomed union. The re-liberation of this country came at a heavy price. That is why it is extremely important to preserve the independence and sovereignty of this nation. Defunct mafia-type organizations such as the UN or the den of tyrants like the AU can’t reverse the will of the people of this country. We are trying to put in power a government that advocates for its place under the sun, while enjoying the full backing of its people. There is no power in this world that can break the will of a people united for their freedom and democracy. A so-called super power can’t do it, let alone crumbling failing states whose whole power have boiled down to empty press releases, political statements and cock tail parties they called conferences.
We are looking for a transparent and accountable government that can knock on the doors of the lonely dictators while in their failing states and tell them, sir, we are the elected representatives of our people, who unanimously chosen to have their own state and nation. These weak and illegal governments are not in a position to preach them about anything, when most of them came to power through the barrel of the gun, deception or election rigging. There is nobody in Africa who has neither the power nor the integrity to tell us what to do. There is nobody in the world who has the real moral fortitude or the legitimacy who can tell us what to do.

Though they did few things rights the current government came short to effectively articulate our very powerful story in front of the world. Lately they appear to be metamorphosing into a dictatorship. These days you may wonder how come these people who were elected by the public, changed into despots and tyranty? To understand exactly undertand what is going on, just take a peak and look in to their background. Many of the currently reigning coteries were once senior officers in the now defunct former colonial tyranny. Clearly they have some dominant dictatorship genes in their overall genetic makeup. Apparently those dominant genes showed up and make them ignore the constitution, the rule of law and elections. There is a saying which goes, “Old tigers never change their strips.”

Dr. Martin Luther King was once told. He is a young man and there is plenty of time to spare to advocate for civil rights. His response was “the fierce urgency of the time cannot wait.” President Obama was also invoking the same slogan throughout the 2008 presidential campaign. In the same token, we also need to invoke and say loud, the time for a new visionary leadership for the country is now. The time to put in place a new and visionary leadership is now. With the power of voting, the time to remove the undemocratic forces at the mantle of power is now. The currently reigning administration is mostly made up of a recalcitrant and undemocratic coterie. When the time they were in control of the government was expired, they seem to be dragging their feet to relinquish power bestowed to them by the people. What they are doing is exactly the signature of hard core tyrants, and failing leaders. Good leaders lead, bad leaders manipulate. Good leaders mentor and model for their people. Bad leaders issue presidential degrees which are nothing but extrajudicial one liners. Good leaders honestly do everything with the consent of their people. Bad leaders do everything alone and with deception. Good leader do conduct peaceful transfer of power, bad leaders drag their feet and try to create situations that can temporarily prolong their lives. The current leaders are situational leaders who came from the woodwork to fill a vacuum in the post ill-fated-defunct union
Again Somalilnders have no time to waste. The bitter urgency of the time is forcing us to intervene and do the right thing. At this point, Kulmiye party is the only party that has the potentiality to lead the country to a full sovereignty and independence. Supporters must and should resort to peaceful civil disobedience and through a process of non violence in order to bring the current administration to follow Somaliland constitution. The purpose is twofold: 1. Peaceful transfer of power in the country. 2. Leading the beginning of a new era of accountability and transparency. The country needs a party that leads it out of the psychological siege laid by the failed leaders that surround Somaliland. This nascent democracy needs a fresh blood that can lead it from the darkness of inefficiency to the sunshine of efficiency. The country needs visionary leaders who can replace the current corruption practitioners with honest leaders. We need to peacefully fire them via the powerful ballot box they are dragging their feet to avoid. The problem is the ballot box is inevitable. The people of this country are all singing the word change. The word change is written all over the wall. Again the theme is change for the better.

No nation will ever survive without good leadership. Most post colonial fragile states in Africa and the Middle East, need great leaders that walk them through the long and difficult journey from an aggregations e of lawless clan entities or fiefdoms if you will, into a modern reconfigured and cohesive state states.They need transformational leaders who are have vision and foresight. They need leaders who can plan for tomorrow. Despite the abysmal colonial legacies they inherit, the leaders of these fragile states need great selfless leaders, who can wade them through the dangerous places and rivers they have to cross.

Short historical background

Somaliland current leadership is a situational leadership who led the country in a post colonial/conflict era of an uncertainty. The conflict was a conflict created by surrendering Somaliland’s independence to another country Somalia, a country that only exists on paper.

Definition of Leadership:

Leadership as a property or a set of properties possessed in varying degrees by different people. This suggests that it resides in select people and restricts leadership to only those who are believed to have special, usually inborn talents. In the past 50 years there have been as many as 65 different classifications systems developed to define the dimensions of leadership. Leadership is a highly valued phenomenon that is very complex. The component common to nearly all of the classifications is that, leadership is an influence process that assigns groups of individuals towards goal attainment. Bear in mind some of these different types of leadership categories could overlap at times.

In the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21stthe centuries seismic changes is taking place all over the world. Old countries and especially those arbitrarily created states by the colonial powers are faced with existential challenges. The cold war that sustained and kept them on life suppor t is long gone. Many of these defective and brutal one man dictatorships became an endangered species who get into a serious trouble at any time. Some of them are already at the middle of serious crisis. These so-called authoritarian regimes who were ostensibly the friends of the then existing super powers, the former soviet Union and the United States and their allies has been evaporated in a very short period of time. This means the era of the blank check has come to an abrupt end. The nations that can enjoy the full support of their people may adjust and may survive on going seismic shifts. The world is going through turbulent times and economical uncertainity. The survival of the fittest may be at play here.

Why dictators can no longer survive?

The long time sponsors of tyrants and despots were becoming increasing bankrupt for the last two decades. That is why so many fragile states run by dictators are in trouble. No strings attached cold blank checks have been dried up long time ago. Despots who were once the darlings of the superpowers were expendable. The most vivid phase of failure, dysfunction and dictatorship Mobutto , all of a sudden run in trouble in the late 90ths. His people whom he abused and stole their wealth no longer want him. All of a sudden the darling of the west who was making headlines for about thirty years have changed into a dispensable burden who nobody wants. Rebel armies were mushrooming throughout his far flung, but ungovernable and crumbling country Zaire. Finally a set of armed rebels led by a perennial revolutionary Laurent Kabila were closing on Kinshasa his crumbling capital. All of a sudden in 1997, Mobutto has nowhere to go, his capital was taken over by Kabila. Morocco briefly gave him asylum, until he is finding a permanent home. Nobody came out to give him a permanent asylum and he abruptly died probably of despair or suicide.

I will like to discuss here several different kinds of leadership styles and they are as follows:

Trait versus Process Leadership
Assigned Versus Emergent Leadership
Transactional Leadership.
Transformational Leadership
Visionary Leadership

(1) This trait perspective suggests that certain individuals have special innate or inborn characteristics or qualities that make them leaders, and it is these qualities that differentiate them from non leaders. Some people are leaders because of their formal position within an organization, whereas others are leaders because of the way other group members respond to them. Example: Both the Business and Corporate Worlds.


(2) Transactional leadership diverges from transformational leadership in that the transactional leader does not individualize the needs of subordinates nor focus on their personal development. Transactional leaders exchange things of value with subordinates to advance their own as well as their subordinate’s agenda. Transactional leaders are influential because it is in the best interest of subordinates to do what the leader wants. Many in corporate America fit this category of leadership.

Leadership that is based on occupying a position within an organization is called
Assigned leadership. Example: Business, Corporate and Government.
When an individual is perceived by others as the most influential member of a group or organization, regardless of the individual’s title, the person is exhinct leadership. Team leaders, plant managers, department heads, directors, and administrators are all examples of assigned leadership. In the case of the emergent leadership, the individual acquires emergent leader sip through other people in the organization who support and accept that individual’s behavior. This type of leaindividualsot assigned by position, but rather it emerges over a period of time through communication.

(3) Transformational leadership is an encompassing approach that can be used to describe a wide range of leaderships, from very specific attempts to influence followers on a one-to-one-level, to very broad attempts to influence whole organizations and even entire cultures and nations. The great Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela were both transformational and visionary leaders as well.

4) These types of leaders are inspirational leaders, they have vision. These types of leaders see the Promised Land. They have the ability to excite, organize and rally big crowds. They can drive huge crowds into frenzy, and they can attract and capture large number of followers or a fan base in a very short period of time. Surely these are the kind of leaders missing from the African political scene. Few examples regarding this type of leadership is as follows: Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Patrice Lumumba, W.E.B. Dubious, Dr. Martin Luther King, president Obama, John F. Kennedy, Ibrahim Lincoln, and others..


Bad Leadership according to B. Kellerman

Bad leadership compels us to see leadership in its entirety. Kellerman argues that the dark side of leaders–from rigidity and callousness to corruption and cruelty–is not an aberration. Barbara Kellerman is a research director of the Center for Public leadership and a lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government, at Harvard University.

The following are characters that have attributes in line with Kellerman’s different types of Bad Leadership
Incompetent Leadership – the leader and at least some followers lack the will or skill (or both) to sustain effective action. With regard to at least one leadership challenge, they do not create positive change.

Rigid Leadership – the leader and at least some followers are stiff and unyielding. Although they may be competent they are unable or unwilling to adapt to new ideas, new information, or changing times.
Intemperate Leadership – the leader lacks self-control and is aided by followers who are unwilling or unable to effectively intervene.

Callous Leadership – the leader and at least some followers are uncaring or unkind. Ignored or discounted are the needs, wants, and wishes of most members of the group or organization, especially subordinate.

Corrupt Leadership – the leader and at least some followers lie, cheat or steal. To a degree that exceeds the norm, they put self-interest ahead of the public interest.

Insular Leadership – the leader and at least some followers minimize or disregard the health and welfare of the other– that is, those outside the group or organization for which they are directly responsible.

Evil Leadership – the leader and at least some followers commit atrocities. They use pain as an instrument of power. The harm done to men, women, and children is severe rather than slight. The
In the same token something akin to some of the above named traits, that are the modes operandi of a bad leadership can be seen happening in Somaliland.


Suleiman Egeh-freelance writer and a senior science Instructo