Gov't intensifies fight against money laundering, terrorism financing, weapons proliferation.

The Miniter Delegate to the Minister of Finance, Yaouba Abdoulaye, declared open the first session of the coordination committee on national policies against money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction on Wednesday 25 June.

Yaouba presented a mixed grill of the situation of the phenomena in the country and expressed worry that the national committee was not doing enough to stem the ills. 

He pointed out that after a careful study by GAFI, Cameroon was demoted into the black list of countries that constitute a gateway to international money laundering, terrorism financing and transit of weapons of mass destruction.

Yaouba said out of the 24 items that were singled out for action to stem the ills, only 8 had been implemented; representing barely 40% realisation, while 16 items, or 60% are still pending.

He questioned why committee members are finding it difficult to implement a programme that they themselves put in place. 

Reiterating gov’t’s position

Yaouba said the Minister of Finance has said money laundering, financing of terrorism and influx of weapons, are taking a toll on the national economy.

“Your first task is to come up with a workable strategy that will pull Cameroon out of the black list of GAFI. This could happen even before the time limit, we set for ourselves reaches,” he reminded committee members on behalf of the minister.

Yaouba expressed dismay that at a time when the committee was presenting its fourth report, removing Cameroon from the black list of GAFI still remains a far cry.

He heaped blames on some members of the committee whom he said their acts of omission are tantamount to negligence and has contributed to the low level of implementation of agreed achievement targets.

Yaouba told committee members that time for concrete action is now for urgent measures that would permit the removal of Cameroon from the black list of GAFI defaulting nations not later than September 2025.

He gave the dateline of July 6, 2025, for a strategy to be put in place ahead of a meeting between a government delegation and GAFI to absolve the nation in front of international officials charged with fighting these ills around the world.

He said if deliberations between Cameroon and GAFI during the July meeting turn out right, then the international body could remove Cameroon from its black list during their annual meeting slated for September.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3486 of Friday June 27, 2025