President John Dramani Mahama on Monday affirmed Ghana’s commitment to strengthening structures that would enhance the effective implementation of anti-money laundering and terrorist financing.

“Recent terrorist actions in Nigeria and Mali have given government the sense of urgency to fight against its emergence in any other part of the West African sub-region,” President Mahama stated in Accra.

President Mahama who was interacting with members of the Anti-money laundering and Terrorist Financing delegation of Financial Action Task Force at the Castle, Osu, said Ghana is yet to be fully incorporated into the international anti-money laundering and terrorist financing although it had completed some of the legal and logistical problems.

He said the clearance of the legal hurdles would offer the country the opportunity to fully and effectively implement the laws that would deter those activities in the confines of the country and beyond.

President Mahama said Ghana’s fight against those practices was in consonance with the democratic requirements of the country, and gave the assurance that government would continue to train the staff and resource them when necessary to ensure effective implementation.

He appealed to the international bodies to support Ghana’s course in the legal and resource facilities that would enable them to perform according to international standards.

Dr Kwabena Duffuor, caretaker Minister for Finance who is a member of the committee, said since 2010, all legal instruments relating to money laundering and terrorist financing had been enacted and focus would be on rigorous implementation to ensure effective performance.

He said the financial action Task Force’s visit to Ghana was to promote effective implementation of combating money laundering and terrorism.

Mr Richard Chalmers, Head of the Financial Action Taskforce delegation, said their presence in the country would offer them the opportunity to assess and confirm all the preparation Ghana had made and to re-affirm its commitment to supporting West Africa to achieve its goals.

He said the government would also ensure that Ghana had the institutional capacity to effectively implement the programme for the benefit of its citizenry and beyond.