MOGADISHU, Somalia — September 1, 2026 — Employees of Hirshabelle’s education ministry have reportedly gone eight months without salaries amid allegations that $60,000 in World Bank-supported funds intended for teachers and ministry staff was misappropriated, according to an account supplied for this report. The alleged diversion and the reasons for the delayed payments have not been independently verified.

The account accuses the director general of Hirshabelle’s finance ministry of diverting the money and subsequently failing to provide an explanation when asked to account for it. No supporting bank statements, payroll records or audit findings were supplied to establish the allegation.

The official was identified by position, rather than by name. The information provided does not specify when the alleged diversion occurred, when the salary arrears began or how many employees are affected.

Reported Request for Financial Accountability

According to the supplied account, the World Bank sent an email requesting financial information about the funds. The message reportedly remains in a ministry email account without a response.

The account links that alleged failure to respond to a suspension of cooperation by the World Bank. However, the email itself was not available for review, and neither its recipient nor the precise scope of the claimed suspension could be established.

It remains unclear whether the reported action concerns a particular salary payment arrangement, an education project or another funding mechanism. No World Bank notice confirming a suspension connected to this allegation was available in the material reviewed.

The account also states that the World Bank had provided the salary funding before employees went unpaid. Without transfer records and payment schedules, it is not possible to establish whether the money reached the relevant government account or where any interruption occurred.

No response from the accused official, Hirshabelle’s finance and education ministries or the World Bank was included in the supplied material. Their positions on the specific allegations therefore remain unestablished.

Somalia’s Education Funding

World Bank support for public-sector salaries in Somalia predates the reported Hirshabelle dispute.

In a January 2021 account of its Recurrent Cost and Reform Financing programme, the bank described federal transfers to member states to finance salaries for teachers and female health workers. The programme also supported financial management and coordination between federal and state authorities.

Separately, Somalia and the World Bank signed an agreement in June 2021 for the $40 million Education for Human Capital Development Project. Its objectives included expanding access to schooling, strengthening education institutions and addressing barriers to girls’ enrolment.

The project’s design provided for participating state governments and the project to share the salaries of newly recruited teachers equally during implementation. It also envisaged checking whether teachers received their salaries in full each month.

Those records establish the broader role of World Bank financing in Somalia’s education sector. They do not identify which programme allegedly financed the disputed Hirshabelle payments or substantiate the accusation against the finance official.

The supplied account also alleges wider misuse of World Bank funding in Somalia and resulting reductions in project financing.