In Summary
Egmont Group says Tanzania, Mauritius and Seychelles have been exemplary in the fight against the crime
Port Louis. Tanzania has earned praise from a Danish think-tank, Egmont Group, for waging a relentless war against money laundering.
Tanzania is among the three countries in the western Indian Ocean rim, which have been reported to be doing well in curbing transnational crime. The others are Mauritius and Seychelles.
Egmont Group says the three countries have been exemplary in the fight against the crime.
The organisation presented its findings before the on-going peace and security conference for the western Indian Ocean states taking place in Port Louis, the Mauritius capital city.
“The three countries have been successful because they have strengthened their financial intelligence units (FIUs),” said Ms Elizabeth Mutunga, an official of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).
She called on the countries, which are members of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) to harmonise their laws in order to effectively control such crimes.
Although money laundered or ‘cleaned’ can be used in the mainstream economy, for instance, in the accumulation of wealth, it has always been associated with international financial or business crimes.
Yesterday, the week-long conference discussed the situation on the piracy-prone Somali coastline.
An official of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), Ms Elizabeth Mutunga said piracy was still rife on the coastline of the troubled Horn of Africa country although not to the scale it was a few years ago.
She warned that finances accrued through money laundering could fuel terrorism and instability as is the case in present-day Somalia where terror attacks by Al Shabaab militants continue to wreak havoc.
Piracy along the Somali coastline reached its peak between 2010 and 2013, but it was largely contained in 2015 thanks to international maritime support.
The Citizen
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