Kenya has been appointed to chair a key regional group on combating money laundering and terrorism financing.
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof Njuguna Ndung’u is serving as President of the association’s council of ministers for a period of one year.
Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) director general Saitoti Maika was picked as the chair of the task force of senior officials of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG).
He will also chair the Steering Committee of ESAAMLG for a period of one year for the 20 member states.
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Nairobi will consequently host the 48th Task Force of Senior Officials’ and 24th Council of Ministers meetings that will be held in August/September 2024, officials said.
The ESAAMLG is composed of a Council of Ministers (Council), a Task Force of Senior Officials (Task Force), the Steering Committee and a Secretariat.
The Council is the main decision-making body of ESAAMLG and is made up of Ministers from Ministries of Finance, Home Affairs or Justice.
The Task Force forms the technical part of the ESAAMLG and advises the Council on diverse matters of the ESAAMLG. It is chaired by a senior government official from the country holding the presidency of the Council.
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Its meetings are held twice a year where reports are prepared with recommendations for consideration and approval by the Council.
The ESAAMLG MoU and Procedures for the ESAAMLG and Round of Mutual Evaluations and Follow-Up Process provide for the Round Robin Process to be used by the Council to approve decisions taken out of its meeting sessions.
On the other hand, the Steering Committee is an advisory committee on a variety of policy matters.
Its current members are Chairman of the Task Force (Kenya), outgoing Chair of the Task Force (Botswana), Incoming Chair of the Task Force (Ethiopia), South Africa (FATF Member), Malawi, Tanzania and Eswatini, and the ESAAMLG Secretariat (as ex-official member of the Steering Committee).
ESAAMLG members include Angola, Botswana, Eretria, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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