Stories from UNODC Southern Africa

ARINSA Members sign the Dar es Salaam Declaration on Strengthening Asset Forfeiture for Development

 

Dar es Salaam, 12 June 2019-- Assets, including minerals worth $ 41 million USD, determined to be proceeds of crime were confiscated and nationalized by the Government of Tanzania in 2018 according to the Vice-President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, while delivering a keynote address on behalf of President John Magufuli, at the launch of the 10^th ARINSA Anniversary and Annual General Meeting. The VP was speaking at the official opening, which was held at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The event was attended by more than 300 delegates from the 16 ARINSA member countries and other agents representing various stakeholders in the asset forfeiture field.

“ARINSA is a catalyst to Tanzania’s efforts in combating crime and ensuring that criminals do not benefit in any capacity from their crime. Today’s anniversary marks a historical event as it symbolizes our continued cooperation within the Southern African region, which was initiated by the founders of our States during our independence struggles.” She remarked.

She further called upon ARINSA member country leaders to enact legislation that sets aside 2 - 3% of recovered proceeds to go towards supporting efforts of law enforcement agencies and the operations of ARINSA.   

The ARINSA President, Mr Biswalo Mganga (Director of Public Prosecutions -Tanzania), told the meeting that a total number of 416 restraint and preservations orders, and 142 confiscation orders had been reported by member countries since 2009.   This has resulted in the recovery of assets worth $1.4bn USD since the launch of the network.  In her speech, Advocate Imalwa, the Prosecutor General of Namibia, highlighted the need to ensure that the wealth of resources in African nations must be used for the benefit of Africans who have remained poor despite all the resources they have. It is through initiatives such as ARINSA that this continent can be financially independent. 

The culmination of the event was marked by the heads of delegations of ARINSA member countries that were present, signing the “Dar es Salaam Declaration on Strengthening Asset Forfeiture for Development”, a commitment by member countries to ensure that the asset forfeiture framework is fully supported and functional. In light of the meeting, the VP also launched several ARINSA publications, which included the ARINSA Annual Report, a Case digest on Money laundering and Proceeds of Crime, and the ARINSA Strategic Plan 2018 – 2022, among others.

The launch was followed by 2 days of deliberations and presentations by member country representatives and ARINSA stakeholders on issues of money laundering and proceeds of crime.  At the meeting it was evident that ARINSA continues to strengthen professionalism in the asset forfeiture, anti-money laundering, wildlife crime, cyber-crime and counter-terrorism financing regimes.  

Country discussions revealed that most member states have taken great strides in establishing and amending AML legislation, setting up Asset Recovery Units, tracing cases pertaining to property, money, drugs and wildlife and returning the proceeds of crime to the Country of origin and using the proceeds to benefit the respective communities.

ARINSA has benefitted countries through trainings, mentorship, IEC awareness raising materials – building brand ambassadors, sharing information and coordination with other law enforcement agencies.

At the meeting, the following were highlighted as necessary technical assistance and training needed to further build capacity within the countries: continued mentorship, continuing the Prosecutor Placement Programme, following the proceeds from wildlife crime, financial investigation, Cyber Crime, asset management and legislation amendments.

The ARINSA steering committee presented the plan of action for the next year through the end of June 2020, which included raising the ARINSA profile at the African Prosecutors Association, an Enhanced Case Digest project, developing mentorship capacity, launch of an investigator placement program, asset management capacity building, submission of an ARINSA self-funding proposal to SADC heads of States.