Kampala, Uganda:- Uganda is hosting the ongoing 49th Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) Senior Officials’ Conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala, featuring high-level delegates from member states, including Angola, Burundi, Eswatini, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, and several others across the region.
The conference was officially opened by Uganda’s Prime Minister, Hon. Robinah Nabanja, who represented President Yoweri Museveni as the guest of honor. ESAAMLG, a regional task force dedicated to combating money laundering and ensuring financial integrity, receives significant support from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the World Bank.
Mr. Samuel Were Wandera, Executive Director of the Financial Intelligence Authority, welcomed delegates to Uganda for the 49th ESAAMLG Taskforce of Senior Officials Meeting, reaffirming the country’s commitment to combating money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing.
He emphasized that hosting the meeting marks a significant milestone in strengthening Uganda’s and the region’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) efforts. Wandera highlighted Uganda’s robust legal, regulatory, and institutional framework as a testament to the government’s dedication to financial integrity and stability.
He also acknowledged the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development for fully funding the meeting and providing continued support for AML/CFT initiatives. Recognising the delegates’ demanding schedules, he encouraged them to experience Uganda’s renowned hospitality, describing it as the “Pearl of Africa” with breathtaking landscapes, diverse cultures, and warm people.
The head of Uganda’s Anti-Money Laundering Taskforce commended the Ministry of Finance for organizing the conference and expressed appreciation to all delegates for honoring the invitations.
One of the key speakers, Ramathan Ggoobi, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, revealed that Uganda had achieved a notable milestone in the fight against money laundering by successfully being removed from FATF’s red list of high-risk money laundering jurisdictions.
Ggoobi further explained how illicit money, often sourced from drug trafficking and arms sales, is injected into banking systems to fund crime indirectly, including terrorism.
Prime Minister Robinah Nabanja described money laundering as a “weapon of mass destruction”, stressing that it is a tool used to destabilize governments through unexplained inflation and economic sabotage.
She affirmed that Uganda has established robust legal frameworks and intelligence-sharing mechanisms to combat money laundering, though she acknowledged the persistent challenge of tackling financial dishonesty.
The conference also reflected on the Pandora Papers scandal of 2021, which exposed over 11.9 million financial documents implicating more than 35 world leaders and 400 public officials globally. A significant number of these officials were from Eastern and Southern Africa and were accused of using offshore accounts to launder embezzled public funds.
According to the World Bank, Africa loses over $7 billion annually to money laundering. It remains a critical funding channel for terrorism, especially in Somalia, where Al-Shabaab continues to pose a threat, and in West Africa, which is grappling with a surge in jihadist activities.
The ESAAMLG conference is expected to conclude on April 4th, with Uganda assuming the presidency of the regional task force.
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