By Mohamed Abdi - Reporter
Somalia, 4 January 2026 Puntland State has denied involvement in the Rajo Kaaba Education Project saying there has been no consultation, agreement or formal understanding between it and the federal government on the World bank-funded initiative.
On January 2, the Federal Ministry of Education released a notice calling for girls from Puntland and North-East regions who passed the second phase of the Rajo Kaaba Scholarship Exam to participate in the final exam scheduled for January 5. The Ministry claimed that 2,165 girls had applied for the scholarship, with 1,417 advancing to take the final exam.
However, in a statement issued on Saturday, Puntland’s Ministry of Education rejected the claims, stating that the announcement was misleading, adding that the federal state had no involvement in or benefited from the Rajo Kaaba project. The statement accused the federal government of “deliberate misinformation attempt.”
The World bank-funded project, aims to provide educational opportunities for girls, particularly those in vulnerable communities across Somalia.
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Funding for the project has been steadily increasing as efforts to educate more Somali girls continue.
Discussions about the project began in 2021, and in 2024, the World Bank allocated $158,911 for the project.
According to reports the budget for 2025 was $21,830,574 and is expected to increase to approximately $26 million this year.
The Rajo Kaaba project is a collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Education and the Ministries of Education in the Federal Member States and Somaliland. Regional government agencies are responsible for service delivery, while the federal government oversees the direction, standards, and monitoring of the project's progress.
