By Adan Mohamed - Reporter
8 December 2025 - Mandera Deputy Governor Ali Maalim has issued a strong condemnation of recent remarks made by the President of the United States targeting Somali immigrants and U.S. Congress woman Ilhan Omar, describing the comments as racist, dehumanising and part of a growing global trend of hatred.
Speaking during the annual Al-Huda Qur’an Competition in Mandera, Dr Maalim criticised the U.S. president’s description of Somali immigrants as “garbage,” the claim that Somalia is “barely a country”, and the claim that Somalis “contribute nothing” and should be deported.
The DG also added that These are not harmless slips this is deliberate politics of fear, division and dehumanisation and from Mandera, we say clearly, we reject this language without apology and without fear.
He noted that the remarks have been accompanied by calls for heightened immigration enforcement in Minnesota, creating fear within Somali neighbourhoods that have lived, worked and contributed to the United States for decades.
“No leader, anywhere on earth, has the right to strip a people of their dignity,” the Deputy Governor added.
Dr Maalim referenced to the Holy Qur’an verse that says, “We have certainly honoured the children of Adam…” (17:70).
“Allah did not say only Somalis, only Americans, or only this race or that has passport,” he added.
“He said the children of Adam. Any politics that brands entire communities as ‘garbage’ challenges an honour that Allah Himself has granted.”
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Dr Maalim warned that the remarks from Washington reflect a global rise in Islamophobia and xenophobia from Muslims painted as security threats in Western countries, to Africans portrayed as “illegal bodies” in global migration debates.
He urged Muslims not to imitate hatred with hatred, “The Qur’an commands us ‘Be just; that is nearer to righteousness."
"We will not respond to racism with racism. We will respond with truth, justice, solidarity, and excellence.”
Dr Maalim emphasised that Kenya’s leaders must strengthen systems at home to protect the dignity of their own citizens.
“Responding to insults from abroad is not enough,” he stated.
“We must fix our schools, our hospitals, our roads. We must fight corruption and provide real economic opportunities so our people are known not as victims or suspects, but as achievers.”
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