Somalia today is not governed by a constitution. It is ruled by corruption, impunity, and raw political power.

The 2012 Provisional Constitution, once seen as a beacon of hope after decades of civil war, has been shredded by the very leaders who were supposed to uphold it. Four chapters have been illegally altered without public consent. The rest of the constitution remains incomplete, abandoned like so many other broken promises to the Somali people.

A constitution is supposed to be sacred — a contract between the people and their government. In Somalia, it has been turned into a private tool for those in power to entrench themselves. Law means nothing when leaders at both the federal and member state levels treat institutions as personal property and parliaments as rubber stamps.

This is not governance. This is organized looting disguised as politics.

Somalia is not unique in lacking a finalized constitution. Other nations function under customary laws and respected traditions. But Somalia’s problem runs deeper: there is no functioning legal order left. Even customary laws, Islamic principles, and parliamentary practices have been hijacked by corruption and clan favoritism. The result is a lawless shell of a country, where the president’s personal interests dictate the fate of millions.

Elections are delayed or manipulated. Courts are powerless. Parliamentarians sell their votes to the highest bidder. Ordinary Somalis, facing insecurity, poverty, and injustice, are left with no voice, no protection, and no hope. Meanwhile, extremist groups exploit this vacuum, positioning themselves as more reliable dispensers of “justice” than the so-called government.

How long can Somalia survive like this? How long can a nation endure when every rule is negotiable, every law up for sale?

The international community, exhausted and distracted, has allowed Somalia’s leaders to play endless games without real consequences. But it is Somalis — the farmers, the mothers, the youth — who pay the price every day.

If Somalia is to have any future, it must start by taking back its constitution — not through secret deals among politicians, but through a public, transparent, and nationally owned process. The unfinished constitution must be finalized, ratified, and enforced. Institutions must be rebuilt to serve the people, not the rulers. And leaders who betray their oath to the law must be held accountable — without exception.

Enough is enough. Somalia does not need more speeches, false promises, or cosmetic reforms. It needs a revolution of law — a return to constitutional order — or it risks becoming a country permanently governed by force and fraud.

The Somali people deserve a government bound by law, not by the greed of the few.