This archive report was first published on 27 October 2019.
Kenya is seeking international assistance to disrupt the flow of informal finances to the Al-Shabaab terror group, which remains active despite military operations in the region.
According to Manoah Esipisu, Kenya's High Commissioner to the UK, regional and international partners must work together with the federal and regional governments of Somalia to design and implement a framework for combating Al-Shabaab's financing.
Esipisu emphasized the need for strong Joint Investigation Teams linked to effective prosecution and incarceration in Somalia, as well as efforts to tackle the group's illicit taxation and protection rackets of thousands of businesses and humanitarian organizations in the country.
He also stressed the importance of protecting civilians and international humanitarian operations from Al-Shabaab's attacks, and called on all countries exposed to the threat to domesticate and comply with binding counter-terrorism measures in UN Security Council resolutions, such as Resolution 2178 on Foreign Fighters.
“Rather than focus so exclusively on countering terrorism financing measures in the formal banking and money transfer systems, we will need to fully deal with cash-based financing in areas that terrorists operate,” Esipisu said.
He made these remarks at the Institute for Strategic Studies in London, UK, where he argued that Al-Shabaab's military success is far from assured, despite repeated defeats on the battlefield.
However, Esipisu warned that the group's political and ideological assault reaches wider than its military capability, and that its existence poses a direct threat to Somalia's state-building project and regional stability.
He called on countries to stop Al-Shabaab from holding any territorial ground, which would allow it to exploit institutions and fund its operations.
Esipisu also emphasized the need for the humanitarian sector to be more transparent and supported in minimizing taxation by terrorist groups, and for investment in preventive measures such as secure disengagement and reintegration programs for former operatives.
“It is as urgent as ever to do more to close off religious spaces to militant extremists and their ideology. Countries that sponsor various forms of extremist interpretations of religion or identity, beyond their borders, will need to be reined in,” he added.
