Interior Cabinet Secretary(CS) Fred Matiang’i has revised legislation governing the freezing of funds or property alleged to be the proceeds of terrorism in a fresh drive to increase surveillance and seize billions in the war on “dirty money,”
The failure to disclose and freeze cash or property used for terrorist activities by financial institutions, organizations, or people can result in a Sh3 million fine or seven years in prison.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution on Suppression of Terrorism can now be fully implemented thanks to the new laws that have been submitted to Parliament.
The regulations, which replace the 2013 rules that omitted the subsidiary law’s effective date, were published in accordance with section 50(1) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2022.
“These regulations may be cited as the Prevention of Terrorism (Implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Suppression of Terrorism) Regulations 2022, and shall come into operation as follows…regulation 27 and 32 shall come into operation on publication,” the rules state.
The laws provide the CS the authority to order the freezing of the assets of anyone who is included on any sanction list, including those maintained by the UN.
The rules are intended to carry out resolutions on terrorism financing and deal with WMDs.
“Subject to these regulations, the Cabinet Secretary shall, either on his or her motion or at the request of the committee, make an order freezing the property or funds of a designated entity, whether held directly or indirectly by the entity or a person acting,” the rules, which and revokes the 2013 regulations, states.
The definition of “freeze” under the regulations is that it means to prevent or restrict a specific piece of property or amount of money from being used, transferred, transacted, converted, altered, hidden, moved, or disposed of without changing who owns it.
An order to freeze assets or money must also forbid future transfers of money or financial services to the identified entity for which it was issued
In accordance with the regulations, a designation or sanctions list distributed by Interior CS or the Inter-Ministerial committee shall be deemed to authorize a reporting institution and any other institution that holds the property or funds of a designated entity to freeze those assets until further notice.
The laws establish an all-powerful nine-member Counter Financing of Terrorism Inter-Ministerial Committee to be chaired by the Interior CS but were not open to public input for security reasons.
The regulations specify that the committee’s duties include carrying out Resolutions 1267, 1373, 1718, and 1988 relating to the prevention of finance and terrorism, the prevention and disruption of the spread of, and dealing in, weapons of mass destruction, as well as any other connected resolutions.
The committee will keep tabs on anyone holding money or property that may have been used as security or for financial services but has since been received, acquired, transacted, hidden, disposed of, converted, transferred, or moved.