By Abdiqani Haji Abdi

Somalia’s fragile democracy is entering one of its most turbulent phases as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration nears the end of its term. Once welcomed back with promises to restore stability, strengthen institutions, and revive the economy, President Hassan now faces mounting opposition for failing to deliver on those commitments while abandoning urgent national priorities and deepening divisions. Rampant corruption, worsening insecurity, and escalating economic hardship have fueled public outrage and further eroded confidence in his leadership, leaving the nation on edge at a critical moment in its political future.

Growing opposition to President Hassan Sheikh’s leadership is amplifying concerns over Somalia’s uncertain future. The former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheyre launched a searing political broadside against President Hassan. In a lengthy statement, Kheyre accused the head of the state of tearing apart Somalia’s constitutional framework, weaponizing state power against his own people, and presiding over a corrupt administration more interested in land grabs than national survival.

His statement, titled “An Evaluation of the State of the Country, the People, and Somali Statehood: Three Years and Three Months After the Election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud,” was less a reflection and more a call to arms — urging Somalis and international actors to recognize the perilous course on which the nation has been set.

A Nation in “Constitutional Void”

Kheyre’s sharpest charge is that Somalia today operates in a “constitutional vacuum.” He accused President Hassan Sheikh of unilaterally amending critical sections of the 2012 provisional constitution — the fragile consensus text that underpinned the country’s federal system — without following the legally mandated review process.

“The constitution that once bound together the Somali people and their statehood has been torn apart, replaced by the whims and distorted interests of President Hassan Sheikh,” Kheyre said.

With less than nine months until the president’s current term expires, no framework exists for federal elections. Instead, Mogadishu has launched a unilateral voter registration process that Kheyre said is enforced “by coercion, intimidation, and the gun.” Analysts warn this could pave the way for a disputed election or even a return to authoritarian rule — scenarios Somalia has seen before.

Warnings of National Fragmentation

Kheyre also zeroed in on the crumbling relationship between Mogadishu and federal member states. Relations with Puntland and Jubbaland, historically resistant to centralization, have “collapsed into outright hostility,” he said, accusing Hassan Sheikh of fueling dangerous rifts that threaten to unravel national cohesion.

“The unity of the nation is in grave danger,” Kheyre declared. “What should be soldiers protecting the people are today entrenched in internal battles.”

The image of Somali soldiers, trained and armed with international support to fight al-Shabaab, now turning their guns on each other in Gedo region, underscores the depth of the crisis.

Land grabs and worsening economic decline lie at the heart of the failure

Perhaps Kheyre’s most explosive accusations centered on land seizures in Mogadishu. He alleged that Hassan Sheikh has presided over a system in which public lands — once national assets — are illegally sold on black markets, while poor families who have lived on properties for decades are forcibly evicted by security forces.

“It is a national tragedy that the president himself is selling off public lands in black markets,” Kheyre charged. “Even private citizens’ properties are being stolen under the guise of government authority.”

Land disputes have long been among Somalia’s most combustible political issues. With property registries destroyed in decades of war, opportunistic elites have often exploited the vacuum, while ordinary families — and even returning refugees — pay the price. Rights groups warn that demolitions and forced evictions in Mogadishu have surged in recent months, often enforced with live gunfire.

The former prime minister also painted a grim picture of Somalia’s economic health. Markets are thinning out, entrepreneurs are fleeing to invest abroad, and donor confidence — the lifeline of Somalia’s state budget — is collapsing.

According to Kheyre, nearly half a billion dollars in development funding has already been withdrawn due to corruption and mismanagement. Even the financial support for African Union peacekeepers, who form the backbone of Somalia’s security, is now under review.

“Somalia survives almost entirely on international aid,” Kheyre said. “But under this leadership, mismanagement and corruption have eroded trust, leaving the people abandoned.”

“We Cannot and Must Not Accept”

In a rhetorical crescendo, Kheyre listed what he described as the intolerable realities of Hassan Sheikh’s presidency:

• Mothers evicted daily from homes they have lived in for decades.
• Public assets stripped and sold in black markets.
• Private property seized under the abuse of state authority.
• Extremist groups regaining lost territory while the government turns its guns on civilians.
• National troops deployed to displace the poor or fight each other, rather than defend the nation.
• Businesses collapsing, youth fleeing abroad, and many perishing at sea.
• Citizens coerced into illegitimate political processes.
• State institutions reduced to fiefdoms of corruption and profiteering.

“This is not governance,” Kheyre said. “It is betrayal.”

A Call to Step Aside

Kheyre concluded with a blunt message to the president: resign before it is too late.

“What we together once rejected under your predecessor, we will not accept from you either,” he said, invoking the downfall of Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmaajo,” whose bid to extend his rule triggered political crisis in 2021.

“Do the honorable thing. Step aside. Lay down power. Save the Somali people and Somali statehood before it is too late.”

Silence of the International Community

Kheyre’s statement also implicitly challenged the international community, which he suggested has turned a blind eye to Hassan Sheikh’s abuses. For years, donor nations, the UN, and the African Union have been the guarantors of Somalia’s state-building process. Yet their silence in the face of mounting allegations, he warned, risks emboldening corruption and destabilization.

Observers note that Somalia’s fragile institutions were built with billions in foreign assistance and countless diplomatic missions. The question now, as one regional analyst put it, is whether “the house that outsiders helped construct is being dismantled from within while the world looks away.”

Abdiqani Haji Abdi
Email: Hajiabdi0128@gmail.com