By Dawan Africa - Reporter
Mogadishu(Mogadishu24)-The President of the Federal Government of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has on Saturday met with the National Anti-Money Laundering Committee and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) to speed up the collaborated efforts to combat money laundering and Al-Shabaab Financing.
“H.E. President Hassan Sheikh convened the National Anti-Money Laundering Committee (NAMLC) to accelerate multi-institutional cooperation on countering terrorist financing and enhancing prevention mechanisms as part of the multi-fronted Government offensive against the terrorists,” the Villa Somalia stated in a tweet.
The National Committee stated that it had conducted awareness campaigns that have weakened the Al-Shabaab’s power and ability to extort money from the Somali Business people, further aiding the government efforts in eliminating the militants.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud clarified that there are three parallel pillars in the war against Al-Shabaab, which Include, countering their financial support, fighting them ideologically and through military power. He pointed out that combating them will not be easy until the are joint victory against them in all the pillars.
On the other hand, the President together with the Prime Minister, Mr. Hamza Abdi Barre, inspected the headquarters of the National Security and Intelligence Agency, to oversee their work amid investigations on the Al-Shabaab attack on Jaalle Siyaad Military Camp.
The President meeting with the committee came two days after his engagement with the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence for the US Treasury, Brian E. Nelson aimed to bolster partnership in combating terrorist financing in the region.
The discussions between the President and the undersecretary involved the progress of building capacity to combat money laundering and terrorist financing
“Improving Somalia’s controls to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing, and sanctions evasion risks can instil confidence within the U.S. banking sector that Somalia’s financial sector is supervised and regulated in accordance with international and domestic standards,” the undersecretary stated.
The Undersecretary also met with representatives from Somalia’s banking and mobile money services sectors, urging them to refine the implementation of the AMF/CFT regulations.
“As frontline industries, these private sector actors play a crucial role in fighting money laundering and terrorist financing, including by working with local authorities. Treasury works closely with our own financial institutions to share information on suspected illicit activities and refine the implementation of AML/CFT regulations,” he acknowledged.
