CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
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Tanzania |
GLOBALIZATION
which acts of terrorismThe era of globalization has brought many opportunities for the people of Tanzania to improve their standard of living.
At the same time, however, globalization in commerce and financial transactions
has also led to global terrorism, made possible by the ease with
People are convinced that the terrorist attacks on the American Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and in Nairobi, Kenya on 7 August 1998, and the subsequent attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in the USA on 11 September 2001 could not have been carried out without the necessary financing from overseas sources.
Then came the November 2002 attack in Mombasa and the terrorist threats against tourist interests in Zanzibar. There’s a long way to go before the scourge of terrorist organizations in East Africa can be stamped out. For example, when Tanzania enacted its Anti-Terrorist Law last year, some Muslims maintained that it was aimed at muzzling their religion. This, in spite of the fact that the government had issued a statement explaining its reasons for enacting the law, and assuring citizens that it was in no way aimed at threatening specific religious groups.
The government’s statement said terrorism has no particular religious affiliation or national boundaries. Only, that following the bomb attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, it was essential that preventive and punitive responses had to be made by any responsible government.
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the USA, the UN Security Council emphasised the importance of listing organizations which engage in financing terrorist activities. Several countries around the world have now done so, and this means Tanzania and the United States are now partners in a global coalition united in its resolve to fight terrorism and terrorist financing.
Partners in fighting terrorism
Addressing Members of Parliament in Dodoma on the subject of «Blood Money and Financing Terrorism», the US ambassador to Tanzania, Robert Royall said: «We are proud to be your partners in this effort and I am deeply grateful that you have given me this opportunity to advance some of my thoughts on the topic of financial crimes, and especially in the matter of money-laundering».
Tanzania has shown its willingness to fight against money laundering, and leads in this area by hosting the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) with its secretariat in Dar es Salaam. Each member of the Group is required to establish a national multi-disciplinary Anti-Money Laundering Committee, to act as advisors to their respective governments on issues pertaining to policy, legal, law enforcement and financial matters.
Among the first countries to join the Group were Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Madagascar and Zimbabwe.
The ESAAMLG is governed by a Council of Ministers from member-countries’ Finance, Justice and Law Enforcement Ministries. The Council meets annually. Tanzania has already formed its own Committee comprising members from both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
Tanzania’s Finance Minister, Basil Mramba, says the formation of the inter-ministerial working group to address money laundering issues, is another very positive step in preventing this evil in Tanzania. According to Mramba, money laundering and its related offenses, notably terrorism, is a global phenomenon that affects all countries in varying degrees. He says: «Money laundering can create economic instability and distort a government’s ability to make appropriate economic and fiscal decisions. Failure to stamp out, or at the very least, to prevent the problem, allows criminal organizations to accumulate considerable political, economic and financial power which can ultimately undermine national peace and democratic systems».
On 26 August 2002, Ambassador Royall signed a workplan under with Tanzania, with the USA, will provide technical assistance for capacity building in developing strategic plans for identifying, investigating and prosecuting money laundering violations, as well as improving the efficiency and effectiveness of corruption investigations.
Since then, a number of donors and co-operating partners have shown interest in supporting this endeavour. These include the UK, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the UN Global Programme against Money Laundering, and the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF).
Tanzania’s government is determined to put in place a comprehensive law on anti-money laundering, to complement the new Anti-Terrorist Act.