Swazi Observer

FULL STORY

NATIONAL BUDGET TO GAIN MILLIONS FROM FORFEITED ASSETS

By NOKUNCEDA MAGAGULA | 2024-06-18

The national budget is anticipated to receive a significant boost as assets forfeited by the state from money laundering activities will be injected into the national budget.

In the financial year 2022/23, the ministry of finance’s second quarter performance report revealed that potential money laundered in the country and seized by the State during the quarter under review was valued at E990 million.

The move to inject forfeited assets into the national budget was announced by the United Nations Office on Drugs and the United Nations Office (UNODC) Mariana Dias, during the National InterAgency Coordination workshop, addressing Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Assets Recovery.

Although Dias could not divulge the exact amount injected in the 2023\2024 national budget, she mentioned that the funds injected into the national budget were used to empower Eswatini communities.

“As more assets are recovered or forfeited by the State, more assets are made available to be re-injected into the national budget for the benefit of local communities,” Dias said. She stated that they would like to encourage the continuation of efforts by the government of Eswatini to recover and manage the proceeds of crime. She said the inter-agency model adopted by Eswatini whereby institutions make efforts to jointly participate in this process would ultimately benefit the members of society and ensure the availability of extra budgetary funding for development initiatives.

The UNODC representative said Eswatini distinguished itself as a leader in fighting crime in the region.

collaboration

“It is therefore encouraging and indeed an honour to be able to work with you today as you strengthen your inter-agency collaboration in financial crime,” she stated.

She said as a partner in combatting trans-national organised crime, the United Nations (UN) provides assistance to governments in the implementation of various treaties such as the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).

“Both of these conventions combat illicit financial flows and encourage member States, such as eswatini, to strengthen the forfeiture of proceeds of crime through their money laundering and asset recovery provisions, amongst others,” she stated.

Dias said when the global community adopted the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, it recognised that hundreds of millions of people around the world continued to live under highly precarious circumstances such as limited access to healthcare, education, poverty and hunger, unemployment and inequalities. She said in as much as the SDG Framework provided them with a potentially transformative agenda to provide long-lasting responses to these multi-dimensional challenges facing the world, there was equally a strong recognition that an important pre-requisite for implementing the SDGs was building of strong institutions to foster more resilient states and societies.

Dias said therefore, the UNODC view was that the collaboration by different national institutions was a key element of building strong institutions which would ultimately contribute towards sustainable development.

“In this regard, proceeds of crime have a direct impact on efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the implementation of target 16.4 that calls on member States to significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen recovery and return of stolen assets, and combat all forms of organised crime by 2030,” she said.

share story