Kulmiye Needs More Than New Members to Produce a New Leadership Generation
A party can recruit young supporters while keeping every important decision in the hands of the same political generation.
Kulmiye has selected an experienced presidential ticket for 2029, but its longer-term survival may depend on politicians who are not yet visible at the top of the party.
Mohamed Kahin Ahmed’s nomination prioritised experience, institutional memory and party discipline. Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud Abdillaahi Shiine’s selection as vice-presidential candidate added regional balance. The Central Council also admitted 211 new members, potentially widening the party’s organizational base.
That expansion does not automatically amount to generational renewal.
Membership is not leadership
Young politicians can fill conference halls, manage digital campaigns and mobilize voters without receiving authority over policy, financing or candidate selection. Kulmiye will have changed only when newer figures can influence decisions that senior leaders might oppose.
The party governed Somaliland for fourteen years. Its most recognizable personalities are consequently associated with previous administrations, including their achievements, controversies and political divisions. Kahin himself served in senior party and government roles and cannot campaign as an outsider arriving to repair someone else’s system.
This does not disqualify him. It does mean that renewal must be demonstrated through the people and institutions around him.
The next parliamentary and local elections should become Kulmiye’s leadership laboratory. The party could select credible younger candidates, establish policy teams and assign emerging figures public responsibility for employment, technology, municipal services, education and economic reform.
WARYATV Assessment
Kulmiye should create a shadow government rather than wait until the presidential campaign to announce general promises. Each policy portfolio should pair an experienced senior figure with a younger spokesperson who can develop expertise, face the media and answer public criticism.
Internal competition matters as well. Reserved spaces for younger members will achieve little if appointments depend entirely on senior sponsorship. Transparent primaries, financial disclosure and published selection criteria would produce stronger leaders than ceremonial youth quotas.
By 2029, voters should be able to identify at least ten Kulmiye figures capable of becoming ministers, mayors or senior legislators. If the public still sees only Kahin, Bihi and the familiar hierarchy, the party will have expanded its membership without renewing its leadership.
Kulmiye has time to produce a new generation. What it lacks is permission to postpone the transition.
