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| Cross section of participants at the GIABA Open House Forum in Freetown, Sierra Leone (Photo Credit: GIABA) |
It
pledge followed an Open House Forum for Youths in that country on the theme
“Mobilising the Youths against
Organized Crimes” facilitated by the Inter-Governmental Action Group against
Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).
The
July 25 forum, attended by 160 young people from tertiary institutions, youth
coalition groups and the media in Sierra Leone, culminated in a communiqué in
which the youths resolved “to assiduously become advocates of a corrupt-free
society”.
They
agreed that “It is important that youths become vanguards in the entrenchment
of good governance by campaigning against money laundering and its predicate
offences.”
According
to an August 7 GIABA statement, the youths expressed their readiness to
collaborate with national agencies such as the Anti-Corruption Commission, Transnational
Organized Crime Unit of the Sierra Leone Police and the Sierra Leone Financial Intelligence Unit in
their resolve “to rid the country of economic and financial crimes”.
GIABA
said the Freetown forum was intended to provide a platform for the youths to
embark on advocacy and help disseminate Anti-Money Laundering and Counter
Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) messages among their peers and political
decision-makers.
It
was also meant to hone the youths into becoming important policy advocates.
Dr.
Abdullahi Shehu, Director General of GIABA, highlighted the need to draft the
youths in the fight against money laundering and its predicate offences.
Speaking
through GIABA’s Director of Programmes and Projects, Dr. ‘Buno Nduka, Dr. Shehu
explained that in most cases youths have been used in perpetrating crimes
leading to money laundering.
“The
crime of money laundering can only be committed when other crimes such as drug
trafficking, human trafficking, prostitution, corruption or other forms of organised
crimes have been successfully carried out,” he said.
Also,
Dr Shehu noted that all efforts aimed at curbing money laundering should also
aim at eradicating the predicate
offences mentioned above.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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