Jul 16 2007 Marcus Simpson
Ghana's parliament is set to pass a bill, by the end of July, which will amend the country's Criminal Code to make terrorism and terrorist financing an offence. The bill is currently before the country's parliament, but is expected to receive the required presidential assent. H A L Mbiah, Ghana's chief director for the ministry of national security, announced the planned action to media reporters at a recent seminar in Accra, Ghana's capital.
The seminar was aimed at plans to draft legislation to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and was attended by security experts from the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, Kenya and Mauritius. All the countries involved were predominantly Anglophone and members of the Economic Community of West African states, an organisation comparable to the European Union but based in West Africa.
Mbiah also said that Ghana would establish a financial intelligence unit by the end of the year, which would share information on counter-money laundering intelligence with the FIU's counterparts in other countries.
