President Hassan Sheikh urges parliament to expedite bills to enhance al-Shabab fight

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has called on the House of the Peope to expedite legislation once they are formulated and ratified by the cabinet. 

This is aimed at bolstering the government’s response in targeting the militant group Al-Shabaab which has besieged governments in Mogadishu. 

Speaking during a meeting with the speaker of the Lower House and House Standing Committees, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said the assembly was the most critical institution in the development of Somalia.

Mr. Hassan Sheikh said the highest levels of cooperation and coordination among multi-government agencies will relinquish the financial muscle of the group.

The President said his government will provide the necessary tools to detect and disrupt patterns of financing associated with Al Qaeda and global terrorist networks.

The Somali cabinet through the leadership of the head of state has promised to strengthening regulations on anti-terrorism financing and money laundering to degrade the militants. 

Somalia passed the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Terrorism Financing (AMLCF) law in 2016 but analysts say the law is not watertight enough to cut off terrorism financing.

Somalia’s militant Islamist group al-Shabab spent $24m (£18m) in 2021 on purchasing weapons, according to a report by a Mogadishu-based research group, the Hiraal Institute.

The report,  “Al-Shabaab Weapons”, further alleges that al-Shabab, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda, has an annual revenue collection of about $180m.

Previous UN reports have indicated that the group generates millions of dollars through the extortion of businesses and illicit taxes on vehicles, livestock and commercial and residential buildings in the country.

The government said last month it has frozen several bank accounts operated by the militant group but did not indicate where the accounts were located. 

Commercial banks are required to notify the Financial Reporting Centre of any transactions of over $10,000.

However, a recent UN Panel of Experts report said Al-Shabaab manages to circumvent this mechanism but transferring funds in small tranches of a maximum of $9,500 thus evading the threshold for reporting.

The strengthening of institutions like the Financial Reporting Center (FRC) in Somalia which regulates and is set to report on any suspicious money circulating will play a significant role in degrading the insurgents, the government believes.

The centre was established through the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act, 2016 to operate as a National Central Agency that is responsible for the receipt, analysis and appropriate dissemination of all information relating to money-laundering and terrorism financing.

Somalia is currently conducting operations against the militants in parts of central and southern Somalia where the Somali National Army declared successful battles leading to the liberation of strategic villages and towns.