KENYA: Nairobi's Real Estate Sector is Being Exploited by Terror Financiers
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27 February 2025 20:46
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REPORTING BY TOUCHLINE NEWS - Recent developments both within and outside Kenya are huge indicators that the country is still susceptible to the dangerous Al- Shabaab terrorist group.
Kenya will automatically have to reconsider its foreign and security related policies especially now that the United States has withdrawn its support for the country’s security programs within the East African Region.
Recent revelations that Al-Shabaab’s Suicide Bombing Chief has deep ties to Somali government official who purchased real estate in Nairobi is a major threat.
It emerged that the deputy head of Al-Shabaab terror group’s suicide bombing operations is Yahye Ahmed Mohamud, who has been under the radar of multiple intelligence agencies, including Kenya’s Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU).
Yahye, who also goes by the aliases Zakariye and Mowlid, is a close relative of Somalia’s Deputy Minister of Information, Abdirahman Yusuf Omar, popularly known as Al-Adaala.
In a revelation first exposed by journalist Abdulkadir Isse who reports from the Somali court, Yahye is the younger brother of Hawo Ahmed Mohamud, Al-Adaala’s mother, making them extremely close family members.
Defectors from Al-Shabaab who surrendered to Somali authorities exposed this connection, revealing that Yahye regularly visited Al-Adaala’s residence in Mogadishu, spending weekends there undetected, the Horn Observer reported.
Adding to concerns, Al-Adaala is a frequent traveler to Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, where he has reportedly purchased real estate properties in the Pangani suburb, evading Kenyan security surveillance.
Following his appointment as head of Al-Shabaab’s suicide bombing unit, Yahye has escalated deadly terror attacks in Mogadishu.
Yahye orchestrated a 12-hour siege at SYL Hotel, a popular venue for Somali government officials.
The attack killed eight people, including three Somali soldiers, as per BBC reporting, and injured 27 others, among them three members of parliament and the Somali government spokesperson.
On August 2, 2024 – Lido Beach Hotel Massacre, a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the entrance of a beach hotel in Mogadishu, followed by gunmen storming the building.
The 10-hour siege resulted in 37 civilian deaths and 247 injuries including two journalists, according to Reuters, citing Somalia’s Health Minister, Dr. Ali Haji Adam.
Somali authorities, through the Military Court, have now confirmed that Yahye was the mastermind behind both attacks as part of his new role overseeing suicide operations in Mogadishu’s Banadir region.
A Business Empire with Terror Links
TRAC Terrorism, a research and analysis consortium that tracks over 4,000 terrorist groups, recently uncovered that Yahye and Al-Adaala are linked through various business ventures spanning Somalia, Kenya, and Dubai, including powdered milk imports into Mogadishu, allegedly marketed through Banadir Hospital with the involvement of Al-Adaala’s wife, Fartun Sharif; luxury apartments in Nairobi’s Pangani suburb, financed partly by Premier Bank, a Mogadishu-based financial institution accused of laundering funds for Al-Shabaab; and sports equipment stores and real estate projects in Mogadishu, funded by money funnelled through corrupt government contacts.
One of the key financial institutions linked to these dealings is Premier Bank, which has been implicated in laundering funds for Al-Shabaab and Somali pirates.
More recently in January 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Yemen Kuwait Bank, citing its financial dealings with Premier Bank, which has been suspected of facilitating terrorist transactions including the Houthi militia group in Yemen.
Premier Bank has also been linked to forced evictions in Mogadishu, where vulnerable families have been displaced from their homes, particularly in the Mogadishu airport district, to make way for multi-million-dollar hotels and shopping malls.
According to Kenya’s National Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment Report (December 2023), Somalia poses the highest terrorism financing risk to Kenya.
That report came after diplomatic sources reported in April 2024 that Somalia accounts for $180 million and $21.9 million in annual remittances to Kenya and Uganda, respectively.
However, Kenya’s National Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment Report warns that large sums of money collected by Al-Shabaab are being laundered into Kenya’s real estate sector, making Nairobi a prime destination for illicit funds.
Somali MP Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame has also raised concerns over stolen Somali government funds being laundered in Kenya.
"Due to its proximity to Somalia and its progressive economy in East Africa, Kenya is seen as an attractive location for criminal and terror networks,” said Abdulkadir Nur, an anti-money laundering expert.
"While Kenyan authorities are trying their best, the existing regulations remain weak, making it difficult to detect terrorist financing from Somalia.”
Intelligence reports indicate that both ISIS and Al-Shabaab have increasingly turned to legitimate businesses to sustain their funding, using import/export companies to funnel illicit funds, real estate agents to launder money through property investments, and exploiting Kenyan banks due to weak regulations that fail to detect these financial crimes.
With Al-Shabaab’s financial influence expanding into Kenya, security analysts are urging authorities to take urgent countermeasures, including stronger scrutiny of foreign investments.
Without immediate action, Kenya risks becoming a key financial and logistical hub for Al-Shabaab’s global operations, posing a severe threat to regional security.
A big upset is that Kenya is set to be the among hardest hit African countries by’s decision to freeze US Aid as far as national security is concerned.
After Trump’s executive orders, Kenya will now have to cope with the possibility of fending off terrorism threats without the much-needed help from the US.
In terms of foreign aid spent on global security, Kenya is the third biggest beneficiary in Africa, behind Egypt and Somalia, with the country receiving upward of Ksh2.7 billion (USD 21 million).
Previously, the US was willing to fund the Anti-Terrorism Assistance program, meant to improve the capacity of allies to respond to extremist threats.
Nearly all functions of the program have now been suspended, with some US officials revealing to the Washington Post of their plight
(Source: Touchline News)
Recent revelations that Al-Shabaab’s Suicide Bombing Chief has deep ties to Somali government official who purchased real estate in Nairobi is a major threat.
It emerged that the deputy head of Al-Shabaab terror group’s suicide bombing operations is Yahye Ahmed Mohamud, who has been under the radar of multiple intelligence agencies, including Kenya’s Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU).
Yahye, who also goes by the aliases Zakariye and Mowlid, is a close relative of Somalia’s Deputy Minister of Information, Abdirahman Yusuf Omar, popularly known as Al-Adaala.
Sources at Somalia’s Military Court have revealed that Yahye and Al-Adaala are maternal relatives who grew up in the same household.
PHOTO: Somalia’s Deputy Minister of Information, Abdirahman Yusuf Omar, popularly known as Al-Adaala. | Photo by Touchline News.
In a revelation first exposed by journalist Abdulkadir Isse who reports from the Somali court, Yahye is the younger brother of Hawo Ahmed Mohamud, Al-Adaala’s mother, making them extremely close family members.
Defectors from Al-Shabaab who surrendered to Somali authorities exposed this connection, revealing that Yahye regularly visited Al-Adaala’s residence in Mogadishu, spending weekends there undetected, the Horn Observer reported.
Adding to concerns, Al-Adaala is a frequent traveler to Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, where he has reportedly purchased real estate properties in the Pangani suburb, evading Kenyan security surveillance.
Following his appointment as head of Al-Shabaab’s suicide bombing unit, Yahye has escalated deadly terror attacks in Mogadishu.
Yahye orchestrated a 12-hour siege at SYL Hotel, a popular venue for Somali government officials.
The attack killed eight people, including three Somali soldiers, as per BBC reporting, and injured 27 others, among them three members of parliament and the Somali government spokesperson.
On August 2, 2024 – Lido Beach Hotel Massacre, a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the entrance of a beach hotel in Mogadishu, followed by gunmen storming the building.
The 10-hour siege resulted in 37 civilian deaths and 247 injuries including two journalists, according to Reuters, citing Somalia’s Health Minister, Dr. Ali Haji Adam.
Somali authorities, through the Military Court, have now confirmed that Yahye was the mastermind behind both attacks as part of his new role overseeing suicide operations in Mogadishu’s Banadir region.
A Business Empire with Terror Links
TRAC Terrorism, a research and analysis consortium that tracks over 4,000 terrorist groups, recently uncovered that Yahye and Al-Adaala are linked through various business ventures spanning Somalia, Kenya, and Dubai, including powdered milk imports into Mogadishu, allegedly marketed through Banadir Hospital with the involvement of Al-Adaala’s wife, Fartun Sharif; luxury apartments in Nairobi’s Pangani suburb, financed partly by Premier Bank, a Mogadishu-based financial institution accused of laundering funds for Al-Shabaab; and sports equipment stores and real estate projects in Mogadishu, funded by money funnelled through corrupt government contacts.
One of the key financial institutions linked to these dealings is Premier Bank, which has been implicated in laundering funds for Al-Shabaab and Somali pirates.
More recently in January 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Yemen Kuwait Bank, citing its financial dealings with Premier Bank, which has been suspected of facilitating terrorist transactions including the Houthi militia group in Yemen.
Premier Bank has also been linked to forced evictions in Mogadishu, where vulnerable families have been displaced from their homes, particularly in the Mogadishu airport district, to make way for multi-million-dollar hotels and shopping malls.
Kenya is not immune from terror attacks as it had happened in the past leading Kenyan security agencies to step up their efforts to surveil terror financing.
PHOTO: The larger Pangani area - Photo by Touchline News.
According to Kenya’s National Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment Report (December 2023), Somalia poses the highest terrorism financing risk to Kenya.
That report came after diplomatic sources reported in April 2024 that Somalia accounts for $180 million and $21.9 million in annual remittances to Kenya and Uganda, respectively.
However, Kenya’s National Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment Report warns that large sums of money collected by Al-Shabaab are being laundered into Kenya’s real estate sector, making Nairobi a prime destination for illicit funds.
Somali MP Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame has also raised concerns over stolen Somali government funds being laundered in Kenya.
At the same time, Kenyan security experts warn that Nairobi’s real estate sector is being exploited by terror financiers.
PHOTO: Premier Bank has also been linked to forced evictions in Mogadishu. | Photo by Touchline News.
"While Kenyan authorities are trying their best, the existing regulations remain weak, making it difficult to detect terrorist financing from Somalia.”
Intelligence reports indicate that both ISIS and Al-Shabaab have increasingly turned to legitimate businesses to sustain their funding, using import/export companies to funnel illicit funds, real estate agents to launder money through property investments, and exploiting Kenyan banks due to weak regulations that fail to detect these financial crimes.
With Al-Shabaab’s financial influence expanding into Kenya, security analysts are urging authorities to take urgent countermeasures, including stronger scrutiny of foreign investments.
Without immediate action, Kenya risks becoming a key financial and logistical hub for Al-Shabaab’s global operations, posing a severe threat to regional security.
A big upset is that Kenya is set to be the among hardest hit African countries by’s decision to freeze US Aid as far as national security is concerned.
After Trump’s executive orders, Kenya will now have to cope with the possibility of fending off terrorism threats without the much-needed help from the US.
In terms of foreign aid spent on global security, Kenya is the third biggest beneficiary in Africa, behind Egypt and Somalia, with the country receiving upward of Ksh2.7 billion (USD 21 million).
Previously, the US was willing to fund the Anti-Terrorism Assistance program, meant to improve the capacity of allies to respond to extremist threats.
Nearly all functions of the program have now been suspended, with some US officials revealing to the Washington Post of their plight
(Source: Touchline News)
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KENYA: Nairobi's Real Estate Sector is Being Exploited by Terror Financiers
REPORTING BY TOUCHLINE NEWS - Recent developments both within and outside Kenya are huge indicators that the country is still susceptible to the dangerous Al- Shabaab terrorist group.