Is there a gun smuggling syndicate in kenya?
Kenyan civilians have acquired 70,000 guns for personal use in the past two years even as private firearm ownership dropped among their counterparts in neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania, a new global report has revealed.
Geneva-based Small Arms Survey says Kenyan civilians own 750,000 firearms up from 680,000 in 2016. Most of the guns are illegal having not been registered by the licensing authorities.
This put the East Africa’s biggest economy far more dangerous than any other country in the region and sadly enough it’s the civilians you need to be more afraid of than the government.
This is because unlike anywhere else in the region, Kenyan civilians have more guns than the military and the police combined. On average, slightly over one gun is in the hands of every 100 civilians in Kenya.
“Legal and illegal firearms in civilian hands range from improvised craft weapons like self-loading pistols to factory-made handguns, rifles and shotguns,” the agency says, as reported by a local business daily.
Out of the 750,000 private firearms, only 8,136 are registered, representing a paltry one per cent, meaning that a majority of private guns (99 per cent) are held illegally.
Tanzania, whose population is eight million more, comes in a distant second with 427,000 guns in private hands, nearly half what Kenyan civilians have stacked up. The sharp rise in mostly illegal firearms acquisition and circulation in Kenya has defied efforts by authorities to mop up small arms that drive the wave of violent crimes, including banditry.
“Legal and illegal firearms in civilian hands range from improvised craft weapons like self-loading pistols to factory-made handguns, rifles and shotguns,” the agency says, adding that the growing wave of break-ins, muggings and hijackings have pushed a number of Kenyans, especially the rich, to seek guns for personal security. Others have armoured their cars and installed burglary-proof features in their homes.
The Association of Civilian Gun Owners had moved to court seeking orders to suspend Matiang’i’s directive which said that all civilian gun owners must undergo mandatory fresh vetting in the next three months.
However, the CS’s dreams have been shattered as Justice John Mativo ruled that the directive be suspended pending hearing and further direction on January 16, 2019.
The National Gun Owners Association (NGAO) had contested the 90 day rigorous vetting, accusing the CS of usurping the powers of the firearms licensing board. NGAO also sued the Cabinet Secretary for suspending their outdoor shooting range license.
Matiang’i had earlier directed all gun holders to produce their weapons for review and certificates for authentication. Upon qualification, they would be issued with new smart licences. The CS also warned that anyone possessing a firearm illegally must surrender it to the government within the 90-day moratorium, failure to which they would be met with the full force of law.
Is kenya guns laws a time bomb?