Garissa MP denounces attempts to link Eastleigh’s businesses to Minnesota fraud
By Kenneth Mwenda, January 7, 2026Garissa Township MP Dekow Barrow Mohamed has strongly criticised attempts to link Eastleigh’s thriving business community to a series of fraud cases in Minnesota.
Speaking on Tuesday, January 6, 2025, the MP described the claims as unfortunate and driven by malicious intent.
“The Eastleigh Business Community is one of the biggest contributors of revenue and taxes in this country, especially in Nairobi,” the MP said. “Connecting it to what happened in Minnesota is very unfortunate. This kind of fraud happens all over the world, but it is wrong to tie it to our community.”
The Minnesota fraud cases, which have drawn national attention in the United States, involve several schemes that defrauded government-funded programmes. The largest, known as the Feeding Our Future case, allegedly diverted Ksh38.7 billion from a programme intended to provide meals to children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors have estimated that the total losses from all related fraud cases could exceed Ksh129 billion.
Most of the defendants in these cases are of Somali descent. In Feeding Our Future, 72 of the 78 defendants are Somali Americans, though the ringleader was a white American woman. Other cases include schemes targeting federally funded healthcare benefits and autism support programmes. So far, 57 people have been convicted, while some are awaiting trial or remain fugitives.
The MP warned that linking Eastleigh’s business community to the Minnesota fraud is misleading and unfair.
“None of us in leadership, or any of the people here in Kenya, were involved in those scams. Associating us with them is entirely wrong,” he said. “People should be careful about believing claims from someone who is intent on stirring tension in the country.”
He also criticised the influence of individuals spreading such claims.
Somali community tensions
The controversy has emerged amid wider political tensions in the United States. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Minnesota’s Somali community, linking them to the fraud cases.
He described some of the community as garbage and said he did not want them in the U.S. Republicans have also used the cases to target Governor Tim Walz, a Democratic candidate seeking a third term, for alleged failures to prevent fraud.
Several Somali American leaders, including Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, have condemned these remarks and stressed that the majority of Minnesota’s Somali community are law-abiding citizens. They argue that blaming an entire community for the actions of a few individuals is unfair and harmful.