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Kenya Authorities Plan Crackdown on Illegal Guns
10 May 2013
Star (Kenya)
Western PC James Serian has said the regional security team is profiling people with illegal arms. "There are illegal firearms in Western particularly in Mt Elgon, Malaba, Teso, Busia, along the Kenya and even Kakamega. Currently we are profiling all persons we suspect have fire arms," said Serian.
He said the provincial security team will start an operation to recover all guns in wrong hands in the area. Serian said the porous Kenya-Uganda border could be blamed for... (GunPolicy.org)
Armed Violence Provokes Ban on Gun Licensing in Uganda
27 March 2013
Monitor (Kampala)
Kampala - Police have said they have stopped licensing of guns to people and ordered private security organisations to deploy more than one security guard at business premises.
The measure comes at the backdrop of increased armed robberies in the city and its suburbs that have claimed lives of more than four prominent businessmen since the year started.
"We are calling upon private security agencies to deploy about two or more security guards at every station as this... (GunPolicy.org)
Uganda Gangs Stealing Weapons from Police, Terrorising Citizens
22 March 2013
New Vision (Kampala)
The Police have listed over a dozen criminal gangs that are terrorising residents in and around Kampala.
The media has recently been awash with reports of daring thugs raiding police stations and making off with weapons, killing or injuring security personnel and civilians in addition to rampant robberies of money and property.
Recently thugs raided Mpala police station on Entebbe road and stole a gun and ammunition. Last week a gang raided the suburb of Bweyogerere... (GunPolicy.org)
Strict Gun Control Is Long Overdue in Uganda
14 March 2013
Observer (Kampala), Editorial
The minister of Defence, Dr Crispus Kiyonga, has promised stricter gun control in the aftermath of a shooting incident in Bombo town council in which 10 people were killed.
Kiyonga told Parliament on Wednesday that security organs are to review their discipline and gun control measures in a bid to achieve institutional tight control on firearms. This is long overdue as there have been far too many shooting incidents in Uganda involving armed security officers over the... (GunPolicy.org)
West Africa,East Africa,Kenya,Uganda,Rwanda,Tanzania,Burundi
East Africa Civil Society Calls for Tougher Laws to Curb Illegal Gun Trade
27 January 2013
New Vision (Kampala)
The East Africa Action Network on small arms (EAANSA) has called for tougher laws and increased vigilance among member states of the East African community (EAC) to curb illegal movement of small arms and light weapons.
According to the executive secretary EAANSA, Richard Mugisha, considering that the dynamics and movement of small arms and light weapons (SALWs) transcend the political boarders that divide state parties within East Africa, there is need for increased... (GunPolicy.org)
Czech Republic,Hungary,Côte d'Ivoire,Iran,Guinea,Niger,Russia,South Sudan,China,Uganda,Afghanistan,Nigeria,Kenya,Iraq,Congo (DRC)
Trail of Bullet Casings Leads From Africa's Wars Back to Iran
11 January 2013
New York Times
The first clues appeared in Kenya, Uganda and what is now South Sudan. A British arms researcher surveying ammunition used by government forces and civilian militias in 2006 found Kalashnikov rifle cartridges he had not seen before. The ammunition bore no factory code, suggesting that its manufacturer hoped to avoid detection.
Within two years other researchers were finding identical cartridges circulating through the ethnic violence in Darfur. Similar ammunition then... (GunPolicy.org)
Uganda,Ethiopia,Kenya,South Sudan,Somalia,East Africa,Tanzania
Special Investigation: How Smugglers are Flooding Kenya with Guns
8 January 2013
Star (Kenya), Series
There are estimated 530,000-680,000 firearms in the wrong hands in Kenya. The number of illegal arms has grown over the years and is said to fuel the conflicts witnessed within Kenya and the region.
In an investigation that took close to a year, our correspondent Kassim Mohamed tracked down some of the people who smuggle small arms and light weapons into Kenya and unveils a dangerous trend that can affect the current peace if nothing is done by not just the Kenyan... (GunPolicy.org)
Somalia,Congo (DRC),Kenya,South Sudan,Sudan,Uganda,East Africa
East Africa States to Work Together to Reduce Gun Trafficking
16 October 2012
New Vision (Kampala)
Directors of Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Directorates (CIID) in the East African region on Monday resolved to support Somalia to neutralise gun trafficking across the region.
The directors said arms traffickers were taking advantage of Somalia's instability and location next to the sea.
The Inspector General of Police, Lt. Gen. Kale Kayihura, said Somalia, which is now a reconstructed state, is ready to halt and thrash all culprits in gun trafficking... (GunPolicy.org)
Uganda Police Blame Gun, Ammo Smuggling for Rise in Murder Rate
24 August 2012
Observer (Kampala)
Police yesterday said murders in the country were on the rise because of the rampant influx of guns and ammunition through Uganda's porous borders.
Police publicist Simon Kuteesa told journalists that most of the murders in the country were a result of shooting, mob justice, assault, suicide and love gone bad.
"The major challenge we have is that our borders are porous and there is no way we can fight the influx of the ammunitions," Kuteesa said, as police released... (GunPolicy.org)
Uganda Police, Army Mark Own Weapons to Curb Illicit Trade
10 August 2012
Observer (Kampala)
Hoping to curb the use of illicit small arms and light weapons, the police, army and prisons will inscribe electronic bar codes on all guns in their armouries.
The country has recently been rocked by violent crimes, especially murders and armed robberies. And the police and other security organs blame this increased wave of criminal activities on illegal firearms. Speaking at a recent national workshop for the media and armed forces on the small arms and light weapons,... (GunPolicy.org)
Kenya,East Africa,Syria,Uganda
Stemming Gun Violence in Uganda
28 July 2012
The Independent (Kampala)
United Nations diplomats from over 190 countries, including Uganda, are at the organisation's headquarters in New York discussing a pact to regulate the global arms trade.
The Global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) would especially check the illicit trade in arms in a global arms industry that, while amounting to US$60 billion, remains unregulated. Advocates for the treaty say this lack of regulation of the arms industry is catastrophic, as it fuels conflicts that claim... (GunPolicy.org)
Firearms, Ammo Marking to Control Illicit Gun Possession in Uganda
13 July 2012
New Vision (Kampala)
The Commissioner of Police and national coordinator of Focal Point on Small Arms, Ahmed Wafuba has advised regional governments to put in place measures that will help curb illicit possession of fire arms.
According to the Nairobi Protocol, the Great Lakes regions and the Horn of Africa agreed to control as well as regulate the transfer, possession, storage, disposal plus destruction of small arms and light weapons.
Despite the agreement, the region is challenged with... (GunPolicy.org)
South Sudan,Uganda,Ethiopia,Somalia,Kenya
Rising Tide of Small Arms in Kenya
3 July 2012
IRIN (UN News)
DADAAB/ISIOLO — A spate of "terror" attacks, aid worker kidnappings and heightened ethnic conflict in northern Kenya have fuelled demand for small arms by civilians and criminals, say security officials.
On 2 July, four foreign aid workers - all employees of NGO Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) - were rescued inside Somalia and returned to Kenya after being kidnapped in eastern Kenya's Dadaab refugee settlement; their driver was killed during the kidnap. In October... (GunPolicy.org)
East African Community Observes Week of Action Against Gun Violence
24 June 2012
New Times (Rwanda)
The Global Week of Action against Gun Violence in East Africa kicked off in Kampala, Uganda on June, 18 with a series of activities to raise awareness of how gun violence occurs, its impact on people's lives and what should be done to stop the "Gun-Culture".
The event is coordinated by the EAC Secretariat in collaboration with the Uganda-based Eastern Africa Action Network on Small Arms (EAANSA) and the German International Cooperation agency (GIZ).
The week will... (GunPolicy.org)
East African Community Experts to Craft Common Position for Arms Treaty
20 June 2012
Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
ARUSHA - Security experts from partner States of the East African Community (EAC) are finalising plans to craft a common position that the region will present next month at the UN ArmsTrade Treaty (ATT) in New York.
Ahmed Wafuba, the coordinator of Uganda's National Focal Point (NFP) on Small Arms, says that the move will enhance efforts aimed at ridding the region of illegal firearms that have led to loss of innocent lives.
"We have come up with a position and it... (GunPolicy.org)
Firearms Amnesty in Northern Uganda Failed to Recover any Guns at All
20 June 2012
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
After a firearms amnesty in northern Uganda failed to recover any weapons at all, experts criticised the ongoing disarmament programme for failing to engage effectively with the local population.
The scheme is the latest to be launched in northern Uganda since a 20-year conflict with the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, LRA ended in 2006. The conflict led to the death of more than 100,000 people while nearly two million were forced into displacement camps. Thousands of... (GunPolicy.org)
Burundi,Tanzania,Rwanda,East Africa,Uganda,Kenya
Lack of Arms Trade Treaty Puts East Africa at Centre of Gun Trafficking
8 May 2012
New Vision (Kampala)
A total of 300,000 small arms and light weapons have been smuggled into Uganda and other East African community countries for the last 10 years.
This is as revealed by the executive secretary East Africa Action Network on small arms (EAANSA), Richard Mugisha has revealed.
Mugisha said the importation of illegal small arms was high in East Africa due to the existing arms embargoes which are too easy to break or ignore by different countries.
"How can the sale of... (GunPolicy.org)
Uganda Soldiers, Officers Found Selling Guns to Be Subject to Firing Squad
11 April 2012
New Vision (Kampala)
Any UPDF soldier or officer found selling firearms or ammunitions to criminals will be subjected to firing squad in full public view, a General in the army warned on Tuesday.
Speaking at a pipping ceremony of recently propmoted officers, a visibly riled Brig. Hussein Adda, the camp commandant Bombo said the firing squad which is provided for under the UPDF Act is better as compared to incarcerating the culprits in Luzira "because imprisoning will not solve the... (GunPolicy.org)
Uganda Government Asked to Expedite the Process of Small Arms Collection
8 April 2012
Uganda Pulse
Gulu Resident District Commissioner Chrissy Owori Odoi has called on government to expedite the process of collecting small arms which are still in circulation among people in Uganda.
Owori says small arms still pose a big threat to this country and may retard development if it is look at carefully.
Owori says the current peace which the northern region has achieved still stands in threat if small arms are in abundance on the wrong hands.
Speaking during a... (GunPolicy.org)
Ugandan Army Soldiers Sell AK-47 Bullets to Gangsters in Local Pubs
7 April 2012
Daily Monitor (Kampala)
'In Summary
'Mine was an easy purchase'
It was a Sunday when I called on an old friend at Makindye. We settled at a pub on Salama Road. Here, we found a lively group of five men chatting over bottles of beer. They conducted their conversation in Luganda and Swahili, and owing to the kind of calls they consistently made, it was clear there was something cooking.
We took up seats close to their table and could clearly eavesdrop on their conversation. One of the men... (GunPolicy.org)
