Organised Crime, he said, is “inimical to development and can potentially frustrate the human development aspirations of a nation. Evidently, the attainment of SDG 16 will be seriously challenged if organised crime is not put under control.”
Minister Sonko was speaking on Friday during a courtesy call by members of the ARINWA Secretariat and GIZ on an advocacy visit.
ARINWA is an ECOWAS inter-ministerial initiative aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of its members in their efforts to deprive criminals of their illicit profits. As an informal network, it facilitates information exchange on asset recovery, confiscation and money laundering in West Africa. Three national focal points represent each member state drawn from the ministries in charge of Justice, Interior and Finance.
The Gambia is hosting the 10th Annual General Assembly of the Assets Recovery Inter-Agency Network of West Africa (ARINWA) from the 28th to 30th November 2023. Over 60 delegates from across West Africa are expected to be participate in the AGM.
The Gambia, Minister Sonko, went on, is a founding member of ARINWA, and has since been an active participant in all its activities through the three National Focal Persons representing the Ministry of Interior, Justice and Finance. “This representation reflects the multi-sectorial approach to counter the acquisition and retention of criminal wealth.”
“Depriving criminals of their ill-gotten wealth has proven to be one of the most effective ways of disempowering them by weakening their financial and general resources base for continued commission of crime. The hosting of this meeting demonstrates the Gambia Government’s commitment at the highest political level to the consolidation of the criminal asset recovery regime of the ECOWAS region. My Ministry will continue to support the activities and programmes of the Network,” he said.
“Sustainable socio-economic development of states is under threat, political stability faces historical vulnerability and global security speedily undermined due to the vices of Transnational Organised Criminal groups and their alliances. We are legally justified to fight back, we cannot subdue, and our option is only one, the option to confront with steady and sustained effort and mechanism.”
“We have a responsibility to salvage society, a moral and legal responsibility that cannot and will not be discounted. The impact of organised crime on African economy is grave, it is estimated that Africa loses about US$89 billion – 3.7 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), annually in illicit financial flows including tax evasion and drug trafficking,” he posited.
Transnational Organised Crime, he continued, has triggered a dramatic surge of violence in West Africa, at terrible cost in human life, thus we must work together to defeat the criminals. “Our collective objective as a community of nations is to not only disrupt the activities of organised crime groups but ultimately dismantle them.”
“We therefore must strengthen international cooperation through promoting information and intelligence sharing and closer coordination among law enforcement agencies in the region and beyond.”
“The domestication and implementation of relevant UN conventions such as the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and the three drug Conventions as well as various ECOWAS instruments including the Protocol on Mutual legal Assistance in Criminal matters is enough to explain our political will towards global efforts against Organised Crime.” He suggested.
President Barrow, he added, “has directed for the law enforcement agencies to pursue and sign bilateral and multilateral agreements with counterparts around the world to facilitate international cooperation in criminal investigation.”
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