The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) through a special program, equipped the media practitioners with knowledge to understand money laundering, greylisting, anti-money laundering (AML) practices better, thus leading to more accurate and in-depth financial crime reporting.
The workshop convened the journalists from different media houses and was designed to equip them with the practical know-how necessary to easily interpret the intricate financial systems, regulatory frameworks, and new risks arising from illegal financial flows.
One of the speakers during the session was Emily Mochama, co-founder of Diligence Advisory Africa. She pointed out that the training couldn’t come at a better time as it is a follow-up to Kenya’s greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in February 2024. She indicated that this was because of the deficiencies in the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism-financing framework in Kenya which led to the identification of gaps.
Greylisting, according to Mochama, can lead to a variety of serious economic repercussions, such as the dropping of investors’ confidence, and the limitation of the flow of capital. To illustrate her point, she made reference to some figures presented that the status could lead to a reduction in foreign direct investment inflows by as much as 3 percent of Kenya’s GDP.
She went on to underscore the media role in influencing the public comprehension of financial integrity matters. She also pointed out that accurate and enlightening reporting in the sector can be a great tool for reforms to take place, accountability to be practiced, and policy actions to be implemented.
According to ICPAK, this program is their flagship campaign to enhance the level of transparency, compliance with international financial standards, and contribution to the national efforts of being removed from the FATF grey list. The Institute further pointed out that the provision of technical knowledge to journalists is instrumental in promoting an informed public debate on good financial governance and peaceful economic stability.
