Anxiety as more Kenyans in urban centres and villages acquire illegal guns

• Government-sponsored survey found out that about 450,000 guns are illegally held, mainly by pastoralists and criminals

Kenyans fearing attack are arming themselves with illegal guns, a new survey shows.

The majority of the firearms are found among pastoral communities perennially faced with the threat of banditry. But in recent months Kenyans in urban areas and those in rural areas have acquired weapons to protect themselves against gangsters and other threats.

A new report yet to be adopted by the government estimates that there are between 200,000 and 450,000 illegal guns, many of them in the hands of criminals. And the AK-47 semi-automatic rifle is the weapon of choice.

These are among the many findings in the survey report seen by the Sunday Nation. It was carried out by the government and the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey following interviews with Kenyans in their homes as well as law enforcers.

Anticipation of violence

The report links the recent arms acquisition in part to the post-election violence: “There has been evidence of increased acquisition of firearms in some areas, which never used to have, in anticipation of similar violence,” the report says, but does not provide details.

Residents of Nairobi, Central, Lower Eastern and Rift Valley regions told researchers they were not aware of increased acquisition of illegal guns. But according to law enforcers who were interviewed in these areas, households, albeit a few, have recently acquired firearms.

According to information gathered from the police and provincial administrators, most illegal guns are in Upper Eastern, Coast, North Rift and North Eastern regions.

The need to protect property and the fear of criminal gangs top the list of reasons why Kenyans would opt to arm themselves rather than trust the police to protect them.

The researchers found that in pastoral areas residents own firearms to protect villages against clan rivalry, as a precaution against instability or war and to fend off wild animals.

“Fifteen per cent of respondents in Bungoma county confirmed owning guns,” the report says.

It links the trend to the rise of the Sabaot Land Defence Force in Mt Elgon District, which is in Bungoma County. The SLDF uprising was crushed in a joint police and military operation in late 2008.

“The operation thwarted the militia threat and recovered guns, but from theses findings, civilian arm ownership in the county persists to some extent,” the report says.

100,000 displaced

Before the military moved in, the SLDF had killed nearly 1,000 people, including security officers and displaced 100,000 others. The security operation seized more than 1,200 rifles, 1,500 bullets and a number of grenades.

However, early this month, the government held barazas in the area following fears that remnants of the former militia are regrouping to plot attacks on those who revealed their activities.

At the height of SLDF operations, locals were forced to pay illegal taxes. Mutilations of those suspected of defiance and illegal fines imposed by kangaroo courts were the order of the day.

Members regrouping