SLP AND FIU STRENGTHEN THEIR RELATIONSHIP
On Friday 29th January, 2021, at the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) strengthen their long standing relationship by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to boost efforts in the investigation of financial crimes like: Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, Migrant Smuggling, Human Trafficking, etc.
Presenting brief highlight of the MoU to the IGP on behalf of FIU, the Manager in charge of Policy and Corporation (Mr. Franklyn Campbell Esq.) noted that the partnership would ensure mutual understanding in investigating Financial Crimes and its derivatives. He continued that training and deep collaboration will ensue after the signing as both institutions will notify each other on investigation process and by so doing, parallel investigation will be done without any cause to complain from both ends.
In his own statement, the Director General of FIU (Mr. David N. Borbor) reiterated the strong tie that had been existing between him and the IGP as he said the MoU would help formalize the already existing collaboration between both institutions. He said the SLP-FIU relationship will help in knowing how some of these crimes are being committed and how both institutions will help government put measures and policies in place to tackle them. He closed by expressing strong determination to fight Money Laundering, Human Trafficking, Migrants Smuggling and other financial crimes.
The IGP (Mr. Ambrose Michael Sovula) recognized that day as a history making day in the fight against Terrorist Financing and other serious financial crimes. He emphasized that specialized training is key in this situation as the normal police training is not enough. He said this professional additional training will foster parallel investigation in such matters for the benefit of both institutions as they work towards achieving the same goal. Mr. Sovula continued that giving support to other government institutions in enforcing their laws is already one of the constitutional mandates of the SLP. So, signing an MoU is just strengthening what had been mandated for the SLP to do. He concluded by thanking those who developed the document on behalf of both institutions and wished that they would work together to operationalize it to the benefit of every Sierra Leonean.
