ACC wants more money to probe money laundering

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) wants more money to finance new positions within its specialised anti-money laundering unit, which will investigate money laundering.The anti-graft body received N$116 million for the 2025/2026 financial year, a 9.96% increase from the N$105 million allocated for the 2024/2025 financial year. The specialised anti-money laundering unit is key to getting Namibia off the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list. The ACC director general, Paulus Noa, said the N$116 million is inadequate to fund the created positions within the specialised anti-money laundering unit. Noa told Namibian Sun on Thursday that in 2023, Namibia underwent major legal reforms following an FATF assessment. Greylisting"Namibia was greylisted, and we are now working hard to get removed from that list. If we fail, we could be blocked, seriously harming investor confidence in Namibia. One of FATF’s concerns was that, before 2023," Noa said.According to Noa, institutions like the ACC did not have the legal authority to investigate money laundering.“Take the SME Bank case, for example. Those in charge essentially destroyed it, yet the ACC had no jurisdiction to pursue money laundering charges. "This legal gap led to the Prevention of Organised Crime Act amendment in 2023, giving the ACC authority to investigate money laundering, just like the Namibian Police. "FATF made it clear: Namibia cannot fight organised crime effectively if only some investigative agencies have that mandate while others don’t. And I agree,” he added. Noa noted that, due to the amendment, new positions were created within the ACC to establish the anti-money laundering unit. However, these remain unfunded due to budgetary constraints. “We brought this issue to the Ministry of Finance’s Budget Committee because the process starts there, not with Parliament, but unfortunately, the positions remain unfunded. "It’s not just salaries. You also need vehicles, equipment, and office space. All of that costs money. And we do not have it,” he said. “Now, how are we supposed to explain this to the assessors? They will ask for progress updates on implementing the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) recommendations. These are prerequisites for Namibia to get off the greylist,” Noa added. He further raised concern over the ACC’s loss of skilled personnel to better-resourced institutions such as the Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA), the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), and the Bank of Namibia (BoN). “We have lost more than 20 investigators already. Why? Because we can’t offer competitive salaries or benefits. That’s the result of chronic underfunding,” he said. Currently, the ACC operates only five regional offices, one in Windhoek, one in Oshakati, covering the surrounding northern regions; one in Otjiwarongo for Otjozondjupa and nearby areas; one in Swakopmund for the coastal and Kunene regions and one in Rundu, serving Kavango East, Kavango West, and the Zambezi Region. “Namibia has 14 regions, and all demand a regional office, which is a fair and legitimate request. We must serve all our people,” Noa said. “Another concern is that we want to expand the commission's operations, but our budget doesn’t allow it. The allocation isn’t enough. These are real concerns. Look at the national budget. Who is the least-funded institution? It’s the Anti-Corruption Commission, and that’s unacceptable,” he stressed. More commissioners“Now, some people are calling for the law to be amended to add commissioners who function like a board of directors. But my question is, how will you fund those positions if we can’t even afford the investigators needed to make the commission effective? "That’s the real issue. We need more funding to be effective and to establish a presence in all regions. Every region deserves an ACC office where people can report corruption directly. That’s what the public expects, and rightly so. If one region gets an office, why not the others?” he asked. I asked whether the ACC’s call for increased funding has anything to do with the upcoming Fishrot trial, and Noa said the case has already been handed over to the Office of the Prosecutor General. “Once we’ve handed it over, the cost of prosecution falls under the Prosecutor General’s budget, not the ACC's. That case is done on our end, and we have submitted everything. There might be minor assignments the Prosecutor General’s office gives to the ACC, but that’s a separate matter. As far as the main investigation is concerned, we are done,” he said. nikanor@nmh-hub.com.na

ACC wants more money to probe money laundering

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Namibian Sun 2025-12-12

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ACC wants more money to probe money laundering

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Namibian Sun 2025-12-12

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