Stockholm (Somalia Today) — Sweden financed a strategic position held by a senior aide within the Somali Prime Minister’s office as part of a cooperation framework designed to accelerate forced deportations, according to a report by Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Radio (Ekot).
The revelations have deepened a bitter political dispute in Stockholm over what local media has dubbed the “Somalia money.”
Ekot, the broadcaster’s news division, reported that an internal email from Sweden’s former ambassador to Somalia identifies Kamal Gutale—the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff and Permanent Secretary—as a key beneficiary.
The email indicates that Gutale was among the individuals whose roles Sweden funded through a programme backed by the Swedish Ministry of Justice and administered via the UN migration agency, IOM.
According to the correspondence cited by Ekot, Gutale chairs a committee linked to repatriation efforts, with the text explicitly stating that “the Justice Ministry finances that role.”
The email further identifies him as the Permanent Secretary to Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre.
While the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has not disclosed who received the payments, the Swedish Ministry of Justice has declined to publicly identify the recipients of the funded posts, citing confidentiality protocols.
Parallel tracks of influence
The investigation suggests that Stockholm’s engagement with Mogadishu operates on two parallel tracks.
The first involves a non-public 2023 arrangement in which Sweden redirected 100 million kronor in development aid toward projects tied to the Somali Prime Minister’s office, in exchange for Somalia accepting deportees, according to Ekot’s earlier reporting.
The second track, a separate staffing initiative funded by the Ministry of Justice and launched in 2024, used the IOM to finance specific government roles.
Ekot reports that Sweden funded two such posts in 2024 and expanded the support to three positions in 2025.
Mogadishu reportedly pressed Sweden to revive a “diaspora experts” programme designed to place Somali professionals from abroad into state roles.
However, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida, opposed restarting the scheme, citing weak results and risks of nepotism.
New revelations place Gutale in email threads between Somali and Swedish officials discussing the redirected aid funds, Ekot reported.
In a separate exchange, the Somali Prime Minister’s office reportedly threatened to halt deportations unless Sweden fulfilled its financial commitments.
When Sweden later disbursed 60 million kronor through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Gutale was identified as one of the Somali signatories to the agreement, Ekot reported.
Olle Lundin, a professor of administrative law at Uppsala University, told Ekot that the details reinforce the impression that the arrangement is “sketchy.” He said such agreements carry significant corruption risks and require far greater caution.
Official defences and denials
Migration Minister Johan Forssell has defended the cooperation, emphasising that deportations remain active.
In comments carried by SVT, Forssell said Sweden has no intention of halting the initiative, argued it delivers results, and said he wants similar arrangements with other nations.
Citing figures from the Swedish Police Authority, SVT reported that Somalia had accepted 25 forcibly removed individuals from Sweden by November, including 14 deported following criminal convictions. SVT said forced removals rose from six in 2023 to 29 last year.
Forssell maintains that staffing support runs through IOM and frames it as capacity-building for migration management.
He has rejected allegations that the funds supported “ghost workers” or supplemented the incomes of already highly paid officials, according to Swedish reporting.
Mogadishu has previously rejected similar claims as false and says it has no secret or conditional agreements on returns or aid. On Thursday, the prime minister’s office did not respond to requests for comment and did not answer phone calls seeking a response.
Parliamentary oversight
The fallout has moved beyond media scrutiny and into Sweden’s parliament.
Somalia Today previously reported that the Constitutional Committee (KU) is examining complaints alleging that Swedish funds—including aid money and Justice Ministry allocations routed via IOM—were structured to benefit the Somali Prime Minister’s office.
Ekot also reported that Swedish officials received instructions to keep the Somalia arrangement confidential, a directive that has intensified questions about transparency.
Key documentary questions remain unresolved: precisely who held the funded posts, what work was delivered, and what safeguards governed payments routed into the highest levels of the Somali executive branch.
This reporting unfolds alongside a parallel controversy regarding a separate payment of approximately five million kronor routed outside Sweden’s standard aid budget.
Swedish media, citing a Dagens Nyheter investigation, have linked the outlay to efforts to accelerate removals.
Reports have alleged that the sum financed three positions within Somali government structures close to the Prime Minister’s office, with monthly salaries exceeding 100,000 kronor—an allegation Forssell has denied in Swedish reporting.
Opposition politicians in Sweden have described the arrangement as resembling direct payment for administrative cooperation on returns and have demanded scrutiny at the highest levels of government.
The dispute comes as Sweden’s right-wing government, supported by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, pursues a “paradigm shift” in migration enforcement, focusing on increasing forced returns.
Swedish officials argue that successful deportations often hinge on cooperation from countries of origin, particularly in verifying nationality and issuing travel documents.
Forssell has framed the Somalia cooperation as a pragmatic enforcement mechanism and signalled Sweden’s intent to pursue similar partnerships globally.
