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2 years ago
Immediate disarmament of those with small arms and light weapons in Kenya
On Monday President Kibaki directed Kenya’s security agencies to disarm Kenyans in possession of illegal small arms and light weapons with immediate effect. Mutuku Nguli, PeaceNet-Kenya CEO and International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) member representing the Great Lakes and the SADC regions writes.
This move is significant for two critical reasons. The first is that it is coming at a time when anxiety is building across the country over reports that communities living in the Rift Valley are illegally acquiring arms in readiness for possible violence in the next elections cycle due in 2012.
The second is that Kenya has joined hands with the United Kingdom and other States in the Group of Governmental Experts this week to begin lobbying for an Arms Trade Treaty that will make trade in arms stricter to avert their illicit proliferation and misuse around the globe.
By Virtue of her strategic role in the push for tighter trading in small arms, Kenya is expected to demonstrate best practice on how to handle arms race amongst contenting groups at home. To do this the President could consider an urgent Cabinet meeting to pass a comprehensive National Policy on Small Arms and Light Weapons already agreed upon by stakeholders and forwarded to the Cabinet for approval through the National Focal Point on Small Arms (NFP) whose secretariat is in his own Office.
If passed, this policy on small arms shall enhance coordination amongst all actors, not just the security organs alone, in comprehensively addressing the demand and supply factors associated with illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons. It shall also guide Parliament in reviewing the outdated Firearms Act to incorporate not just the enhanced punitive control measures, but also those that seek to address demand for illegal firearms in Kenya such as a comprehensive security sector form.
Failure to pass and effect this policy, shall only be seen when this new initiative to disarm communities fails, just like the more than forty previous attempts, which never quite succeeded is disarming communities and guaranteeing their long-term security.
PeaceNet-Kenya further believes that the adoption of this policy shall ensure a collaborative effort between the Government and other actors within the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms, including the existing United Nations Frameworks to jointly undertake an assessment of the Small Arms situation in the Rift Valley with a view to finding the best possible ways of working with communities to reduce factors that are currently fuelling demand for illegal arms in the province.
We have lately witnessed increased firepower and worse violent confrontations among communities that have been feuding over cattle and natural resources, a situation that should be reversed urgently using all the resources at our disposal as a nation. But while at it, we must jealously guard against arms getting in the hands of those communities and persons hitherto not known to be using arms to resolve their disputes. This is the message we must take to the communities as well. We must also find solutions to the emerging situation where illegal arms are increasingly present even in petty crimes in the cities.
