Licensed to kill: State issuing firearms to suspected criminals

Recce squad members called in to flush an armed thug out of a house in Muthaiga, Nairobi, late last year. Among low ranking police officers, being assigned to guard a VIP is a lucrative posting. PHOTO | FILE |

What you need to know:

  • Independent observers estimate that some 600,000 guns are in private hands
  • Cabinet Secretary for Interior Joseph ole Lenku sounded a frustrated man, lamenting that the number of licensed guns in civilian hands was alarming.
  • Reports attributed to the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) gun club rank Kenya 61st of 178 countries which have the highest number of guns in private hands.

Known criminals including suspected drug dealers, land grabbers, brokers and influence peddlers are some of the people holding guns issued by the government, putting the war against crime in serious peril.

Investigations by the Sunday Nation have also revealed that top security officers are at a loss how to deal with the issue of guns in the wrong hands because some of the holders are close to influential people in government and top politicians.

In an interview, Cabinet Secretary for Interior Joseph ole Lenku sounded a frustrated man, lamenting that the number of licensed guns in civilian hands was alarming.

“The number of licensed gun holders has spiralled as every Tom, Dick and Harry was (now) being allowed to carry a firearm. The number of guns in private hands is alarming and is partly responsible for the insecurity being experienced,” the minister said.

Mr Lenku said that while there are citizens who are entitled to carry guns, too many people had applied for firearms and some who did not deserve them were issued licences.

“We have since cancelled the process as we need to do an audit on who has got one and how they got it,” said the minister.

Mr Lenku said that it was dangerous for the country when too many civilians owned weapons. “It is worrying when too many people carry guns.

Corruption has infiltrated the system, and as a result, some people were issued with firearms when they were not supposed to carry guns.”

The investigations also revealed that security chiefs are concerned that some of the licensed guns are in the hands of people whose conduct is questionable, generally rich boys who flaunt the weapons in bars like brand new toys.

Although police aren’t giving out the number of licensed gun holders, independent researchers estimate there are about 600,000.

Reports attributed to the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) gun club rank Kenya 61st of 178 countries which have the highest number of guns in private hands.

NON-EXISTENT RECORD

On Saturday, a  top police officer who cannot be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said an audit ordered by Inspector-General David Kimaiyo in February to establish how some of these individuals got licences revealed that the record-keeping at the Firearms Bureau was non-existent.

It is also feared that some rich people had compromised police officers to use their discretion to issue guns without following established procedures.
Politicians and their handlers have also been accused of misusing their firearms.

Two months ago, five people were shot and seriously injured in a gunfight in the Makueni County Assembly. The incident involved personal assistants and bodyguards who opened fire during a confrontation pitting elected leaders and their supporters over an attempt to impeach Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana.

Prof Kibwana and his supporters had stormed the venue, and a confrontation and gunfire ensued. Before then, a city club was shut after handlers of Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko and Nairobi Woman Representative Rachael Shebesh whipped out guns in a dispute.

Another incident involved a family disagreement between brothers over the control of a Sh700 million hotel in the Ngara area of Nairobi, early this year.

A member of the family that had gathered at the scene saw one of them draw a gun, which he brandished after they disagreed over stake of inheritance.