Organisation says 600,000 arms in wrong hands

By ATHMAN AMRAN

The Kenya Action Network on Small Arms (Kansa) has raised the alarm over the circulation of more than 600,000 illicit arms.

The organisation warns that terrorists and some illegal groups could use the arms during the General Election.

Kansa said this was discovered after a survey conducted last year jointly by the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms and the Geneva based Small Arms Survey.

The survey indicates that most of the 600,000 illicit arms are concentrated in pastoralist north and north eastern regions as well as major urban centres such as Nairobi and Mombasa where they are used in committing crimes. The weapons mainly comprise of assault rifles, handguns and ammunition, which enter the market through corruption, seizure and loss.

“The Kenyan situation is even more critical when one takes into account that the country is still smarting from the near self-destruct crisis following the 2008 post-election violence caused by a disputed presidential election and it is stumbling towards yet another election without some of the major triggers that ignited the PEV having been addressed,” Kansa said in a statement.

The statement was read at a Nairobi hotel yesterday by Africa Peace Forum Executive Director Ochieng Adala to mark the global week of action against proliferation of small arms in Kenya.

Amnesty International Kenya country director Justus Nyang’aya and the director of Security Research Information Centre Col (rtd) JW Kituku were present.

Hate speech

Kansa said while some reforms highlighted under the Agenda Four of the National Accord are being addressed like the Judiciary, electoral and constitutional reforms, other critical ones including historical injustices, land reforms, youth unemployment, corruption and impunity remain unresolved.

“In such a scenario as the one we find ourselves in today, all the motivations for community armament remain unaddressed,” Kansa said.

The organisation said there are also fertile grounds for hate speech and incitement by politicians. Kansa noted that this was going on through intense political competition, polarisation, ethnic mobilisation and the politics surrounding the ICC cases.