Bishop Dennis Nthumbi doesn’t write like a policy analyst with a spreadsheet. He writes like someone who thinks the spreadsheet is soaked in blood. In this opinion essay [1], Nthumbi argues that Washington’s long-running effort to prop up Somalia’s government in Mogadishu has turned into something darker than “failed state-building”: a pipeline that rewards corruption, strengthens networks tied to terror, and puts US allies—especially Kenya—at greater risk.
His core charge is blunt: Western aid and legitimacy flow to what he calls a kleptocracy in Villa Somalia, while a more functional alternative—Somaliland—gets treated as an afterthought because diplomats cling to “territorial integrity.” Nthumbi points to the Minnesota refugee program fraud as a cautionary tale of how public money can be siphoned off and recycled into the same political ecosystems the US claims it wants to reform. He also alleges that some Somali political figures protected by Western policy privately mock the US, including by celebrating the “Black Hawk Down” episode, even as al-Shabab threatens the region.
Give the gift of hope
We practice what we preach:
accurate, fearless journalism. But we can't do it alone.
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
Join us.
Support The Media Line. Save democracy.
From there, he draws a hard line: Mogadishu’s leadership and the terrorists it cannot control are, in his framing, “two heads of the same snake,” and he says they should be treated with the clarity used toward groups such as Hamas or the Houthis.
Nthumbi’s prescription comes in three steps: stop direct budget support to Mogadishu and impose strict audits and prosecutions; recognize Somaliland and shift engagement to Hargeisa; and treat the Mogadishu government as a hostile actor, pairing that with pressure on Kenya to tighten borders and sanctions.
Even readers who disagree with his sweep will find the argument forceful, urgent, and specific. Read the full piece [1]—Bishop Dennis Nthumbi is making a moral claim as much as a strategic one.