Mauritius’ Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance, Dharmendar Sesungkur has appealed to Zambia’s Minister of Finance Margaret Mwanakatwe to reject the Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) done by the Secretariat of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG).

In a letter dated 25th June 2018 and delivered to Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba, Mauritius has strongly objected to the Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) requesting Zambia and other member states to reject the report.

According to a statement issued by Zambia’s First Secretary for Press at the High Commission in South Africa, Sengukar stated that the report had numerous incorrect facts and wrong conclusions.

He said Mauritius doubted the accuracy and completeness of the information submitted by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), and had since called for the review of the Report.

Sengukar suggested that the report needed to be withheld until such a time when procedural impropriety and the concerns on the quality and consistency were addressed.

Mauritius also stated that the Financial intelligence Unit (FIU) had not been sharing with law enforcement agencies and competent authorities strategic analysis on trends and patterns on money laundering and terrorism financing.

The Minister stated that most of the information highlighted by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) were resolved by the investigative law enforcement agencies and other competent authorities.

He added that the country was committed to assisting and cooperating in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism in Eastern and Southern Africa and had encouraged other states to go through the mutual evaluation as set up by the Council of Ministers of the member States.

In submitting to the evaluation exercise, Mauritius wanted to strengthen its process to fight money laundering activities but said the evaluation was full of inconsistencies and numerous shortcomings.

ESAAMLG is a Regional Body subscribing to global standards to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism and proliferation.

The 18 Member countries are; Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.