Villa Somalia Is Not Somalia

WAPMEN EDITORIAL

There is a dangerous delusion stalking Mogadishu’s corridors of power. It goes like this: “We control the capital. We sit in Villa Somalia. Therefore, we control Somalia.”
This is not sovereignty. This is fantasy politics dressed in state uniforms.

Mogadishu is a capital city, not a crown. Villa Somalia is a building, not a mandate from the Somali people. Occupancy does not equal ownership. Sitting in a chair does not confer authority over a nation that is federal by constitution, collective by history, and plural by political reality.

The Capital Fallacy

The belief that controlling Mogadishu equals controlling Somalia is a relic of the failed unitary state that collapsed in 1991. That system died in blood and ruins. Trying to resurrect it through rhetoric and coercion is not leadership—it is historical amnesia.

Somalia today is not a city-state. It is a multi-layered federal republic composed of Federal Member States with constitutional standing, political legitimacy, and territorial ownership. No amount of flag-waving in Mogadishu can erase that fact.

Fake Sovereignty, Real Damage

Claiming monopoly over Somali foreign policy, national representation, and sovereignty—while ignoring or marginalizing Federal Member States—is not statecraft. It is institutional fraud.

Sovereignty in a federal system is shared, negotiated, and consent-based. It flows upward from the people and their states, not downward from Villa Somalia press releases. Without the endorsement, participation, and consent of Puntland, Jubaland, Southwest, and Galmudug, Hirshabelle, there is no legitimate national authority—only a shrinking circle of self-affirmation.

Somalia Is Not Owned—It Is Held in Trust

Somalia is a collective political property, not the private estate of whoever controls Mogadishu’s checkpoints. The Federal Government is a trustee, not a landlord. Trustees who mistake themselves for owners always end the same way: rejected, resisted, and eventually removed.

You do not control Somalia because:

You control Mogadishu

You sit in Villa Somalia

You issue passports or attend international forums

You control Somalia only when all its constituent states consent to the project. Anything else is delusion backed by insecurity.

The Federal Reality Check

Federalism is not optional. It is not a concession. It is the price of Somali survival after state collapse. Attempts to centralize power by sidelining states, weaponizing foreign policy, or pretending Somalia begins and ends at KM4 are acts of political sabotage.

The sooner Mogadishu’s power-holders accept this reality, the better. Somalia does not need another strongman fantasy. It needs constitutional humility, shared governance, and genuine partnership.

Final Word

Villa Somalia is not Somalia.
Mogadishu is not the country.
Control without consent is not sovereignty—it is occupation of office.

Somalia belongs to all its peoples, all its states, and all its regions—or it belongs to no one at all.

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