WATCH: Minnesota Somali Leader Says Backing Walz Was About Gaining Real Political Power

Hamse Warfa, a prominent leader in the Minnesota Somali community, just blatantly told us exactly why Somalis backed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s campaign.

In a video, he directly admitted that Somalis wanted Walz to be elected so that they could gain “real power.”

Prior to Walz, Somalian organizations received very little funding, and no Somalians had ever been appointed to senior roles in the state government.

That all changed when Walz became governor.

Watch this for yourself:

Backup here, if needed:

🇺🇸🇸🇴 MINNESOTA SOMALI LEADER: "WE SUPPORTED TIM WALZ'S CAMPAIGN TO GAIN REAL POWER"

The Somali leader Hamse Warfa is reigniting debate after describing how Somali groups in Minnesota received almost no state funding before Tim Walz became governor.

Warfa said Somalis had lived… pic.twitter.com/ql35hQxS4T

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) December 28, 2025

MINNESOTA SOMALI LEADER: “WE SUPPORTED TIM WALZ’S CAMPAIGN TO GAIN REAL POWER”

The Somali leader Hamse Warfa is reigniting debate after describing how Somali groups in Minnesota received almost no state funding before Tim Walz became governor.

Warfa said Somalis had lived in the state for decades without holding any senior roles in government, and that symbolic gestures weren’t enough.

He explained that the community pushed hard to get Walz elected because it finally meant real funding and political influence.

“One of the reasons we supported and campaigned for the governor [Walz] was because Somalis had no real power for 30 years.

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Not a single African was ever appointed to a senior position by any governor in Minnesota.

We don’t want symbolic appointments.

The benefits had to reach the Somali community.

Before Tim Walz, Somali organizations didn’t even receive $100,000 from Minnesota departments.

For the first time ever, it became possible to fund the Somali community and their needs in Minnesota.”

Hamse Warfa himself was appointed by Tim Walz to a leadership role in Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development.

He then went on to serve as a Senior Advisor at the State Department, under Biden’s administration.

Grok provided some more information about who exactly this guy is:

Hamse Warfa is a Somali-American leader, former refugee, author, tech entrepreneur, and public servant with over 25 years of experience in government, philanthropy, and the private sector.

Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, he fled the civil war in 1991 with his family, spending over three years in Kenyan refugee camps before resettling in the United States in 1994.

He served as Deputy Commissioner for Workforce Development in Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (2019–2022), becoming the highest-ranking African-born immigrant in the state’s executive branch.

In 2022, President Biden appointed him as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. State Department, where he advanced global democracy initiatives.

As of late 2024, he is the Chief Executive Officer of World Savvy, a national education nonprofit focused on global competence.

Warfa co-founded BanQu, a blockchain platform for economic inclusion (recognized by the Obama administration and MIT), and founded Tayo Consulting Group. He is an Ashoka Fellow and has worked in philanthropy, including with the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation.

He authored two books: America Here I Come: A Somali Refugee’s Quest for Hope and The Transformational Leader: Twelve Practices for Driving Lasting Change (2023). He is also a speaker and occasional opinion writer on topics like community trust and immigration.