House Speaker, Dr. Bhofal Chambers, has held a consultative meeting on money laundering with the visiting high-level delegation from the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), under the auspices of the ECOWAS Commission.
At his Capitol Building office in Monrovia, the Speaker welcomed the visiting delegation to the National Legislature and stated that under his leadership at the House of Representatives he sees the issues of money laundering as one of the herculean challenges the Liberian economy and society must grapple with.
The delegation, which consists of ten representatives drawn from several West African countries, including, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Senegal, is headed by GIABA Director-General, Judge Kimelabalou Aba, assisted by his counterpart, Liberia FIU’s Boss, Edwin Harris.
Speaking through an interpreter, the GIABA Director-General, a Senegalese, told Speaker Chambers that following the organization’s 32nd technical commission/plenary in 2019 they have realized the need to strengthen the activities of Financial Intelligence Units in the region and Liberia, so that the country cannot be a breeding ground for criminals who may use illegal money to affect society negatively.
The GIABA Director-General sorted the indulgence of the House of Representatives, where applicable, as they intend to work with the Liberian FIU to draw up policies and mechanisms that will require legislative approvals for possible national budget funding. The Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS established GIABA in December 2000 as a specialized institution, with the mandate to assist member states to adopt and effectively implement Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (CFT) measures, in accordance with acceptable international standards, particularly the FATF standards.