The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), a specialized institution of the ECOWAS with the mandate to protect the economies of West African member States from the effects of money laundering and terrorist financing has over the years collaborated with many stakeholders, including the civil society organisations to achieve its set objectives.
GIABA organized a three (3) day workshop from 4th -6th June, 2024 for capacity building for the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT).
At the end of the workshop, the following objectives were achieved:
- participants were sensitized on the dangers and consequences of ML / TF in the region;
- participants were exposed to strategies and techniques CSOs could use for engagement in order to effectively fight against ML/TF;
- capacities of participants were strengthened to fight against ML / TF;
- participants were sensitized to carry out advocacy in order to influence the effective implementation of AML / CFT mechanisms at both national and regional levels;
- participants were encouraged to build solid networks of West African CSOs committed to the cause of AML / CFT.
The involvement of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) is crucial in the fight against ML/TF. Thus, the workshop was to step up public awareness, open dialogue for effective and sustainable advocacy across the region and to ensure that CSOs deliver on their mandate without fear of intimidation.
The workshop drew participation from all the ECOWAS countries with the exception of CAPE Verde. Apart from Mr. Edwin W. Harris Jnr, the Director General of GIABA, Mr. Kwaku Dua, the Chief Executive Officer, Honorable Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney General and the Director of Social Welfare were ably represented at the opening ceremony.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Kwaku Dua, Chief Executive Officer of the Financial intelligence Centre indicated that, as part of the country’s preparation towards the 3rd Round of Mutual Evaluation, Ghana has begun the conduct of its Second National Risk Assessment exercise to assess its risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. The second NRA has sixteen (16) Working Groups looking at the various sectors of the economy to assess existing threats and vulnerabilities that presents a convenient platform for money laundering and terrorist financing to thrive. He further acknowledged that the role of CSOs particularly in the active participation in AML/CFT or its associated predicate offences could not be over emphasized and therefore the need for governments to continuously support the activities of CSOs.
In another development, Mr. Dua intimated that these CSOs often complain of restrictive laws posed by the governments, digital space surveillance, arrest and detention of civic actors, forced office closures, obstruction of protests and counter-protests against organizations and individuals and concluded that there was the need for governments to support CSOs so that they could pursue their advocacy roles without fear of victimization or terror by any national or regional governments.