Somaliland Parliament passes Anti-money laundering act

Hargeisa, July 22 (Somaliland.com) Somaliland House of Representatives has passed the anti-money-laundering bill on Monday’s session.

The law is the first in Somaliland to criminalize money laundering. Forty-four members out of the eighty-two members of the House attended the session chaired by the speaker of the House Mr. Bashe Mohamed Farah.

The MPs first voted for the articles of the bill individually. Then the speaker of the house asked the house to vote on the bill as a package. Thirty-three members of the parliament voted in favor, five voted against, while another five abstained from voting.

Some members of the House were not all happy with the passing of the bill. MP Farah Mohamud from Togdheer voted against every single article of the 57 articles of this bill.

“I rejected this bill for two reasons; the first is that the speaker violated the legislature procedures of the house. The bill was introduced to the floor of the house today, and we were asked to vote for it. The procedure was to take time to read it, comprehend it, and after that vote on it, maybe tomorrow. And that did not happen.

I have not rejected the content and the subject of the bill. What I reject is the process and the manner of the house of the leadership. They are acting like they don’t have the best interest of the country in mind; like they have no respect for the house; like they have no regard for the legislation procedure of the house.

The law will now go directly to the desk of the president to approve or reject it bypassing the house of elders as All financial legislation is the purview of the house of representatives.

Abdillahi Plastaro.