350 newly purchased police assault weapons from Nairobi intercepted

Image result for police lorry kenyaPolice Headquarters has denied reports that it is secretly arming reservists in North Rift after 350 guns from its warehouse were intercepted in Nakuru.

When reached for comment over a newspaper report, Police Spokesman Charles Owino said recruiting and arming reservists is not done in secret and that it has drastically reduced cattle rustling cases.

The weapons, about 350 newly purchased police assault weapons, part of a 10,000-gun consignment, were secretly transferred from Nairobi but intercepted in Nakuru.

The weapons, AK-47s and G3 rifles, were quietly removed from a police warehouse in Nairobi on New Year’s Eve. They were intercepted by police in Nakuru where they are being guarded.

Details of the secret movement of the firearms have caused panic and speculation within the top circles of security chiefs at Jogoo House and in the Rift Valley.Image result for g3 weapons

Police Inspector General Joseph Boinnet did not respond to repeated phone calls and text messages seeking comment.

This clandestine gun transfer comes against a backdrop of rising political tensions and incendiary statements concerning the 2022 presidential succession.

Amos Gathecha, an official from the Office of the President, has told the police not to distribute guns or register current police reservists. Gathecha, in a letter written in October, said police should conduct an audit of the numbers of reservists and the guns issued to them before they proceed with further gun distribution.Image result for police lorry kenya

Of the 10,000 weapons, Administration Police are to be issued 800. The Kenya Police are to receive 1,200 rifles, while the remaining 8,000 are to be distributed among police reservists in the rustling and bandit-prone Rift Valley and in Northeastern, which has been vulnerable to al Shabaab terror attacks.

Officers in the escort team told the Star 150 intercepted guns were in transit to Turkana North and 200 to Turkana South for use by police reservists.

Heavily armed security officers were deployed to escort the police lorries to their destinations.Image result for police reservist turkana

Multiple highly placed sources within security circles told the Star the guns were confiscated on orders of Kenya Deputy Inspector General Edward Mbugua.

It is said the reason he gave was that the guns were being moved without his authority.

Mbugua is also said to have also directed Chief of Police Reservists Robert Kitur at police headquarters to stop further distribution of the weapons.

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