Gun owners on spot again after patient shoots nurse

Murder suspect Joseph Njoroge Mungai at Milimani Law Courts on Friday. He faces the charge of shooting a nurse at Chiromo Medical Centre on Wednesday. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The shooting on Wednesday exposed gaps in the firearms licensing process, according to experts.
  • A security official privy to operations of the Firearms Licensing Board said it is keen on “economic power” of an individual when making considerations.
  • Over the years, cases of police officers shooting their colleagues or committing suicide using guns have been on the rise.

Gun ownership by civilians in Kenya is on the spotlight again, this time after a psychiatric patient shot dead a nurse who was attending to him at a private clinic in Nairobi.

The shooting on Wednesday exposed gaps in the firearms licensing process, according to experts.

National Gun Owners Association chairman Antony Wahome has exposed legal loopholes which, if sealed, would ensure people with intemperate habits or those declared to be of unsound mind will not be licensed to carry firearms, as is the case now.

“The law talks of revocation of a licence if one is found to have intemperate habits or unsound mind. I think it assumes, to begin with, that all people are of sound mind unless proved otherwise. To a large extent it would be too late before you find if a person is of sound mind or not (once the licence is issued and the gun purchased),” he said.

LICENSED HOLDER

Mr Wahome added that in such a case, the onus of reporting the cases to authorities lies with family members who regularly interact with a licensed holder.

“The primary duty is upon the family of the licensed firearm holder because they [close relatives] would know before the rest of the world if one has become of unsound mind. It’s their duty to inform the authorities or let the doctor inform authorities that in their considered opinion the holder is of intemperate habits,” he said.

Wednesday’s incident has since moved to court – Mr Joseph Njoroge Mungai was arraigned but did not plead to the murder charge that was preferred against him until he undergoes psychiatric examination.

He will thereafter be called to answer to the charge of murdering the nurse, Faustine Mwadilo Mwadime, at the Chiromo Lane Medical Centre in Westlands.

REGULAR EXAMINATION

The patient was at the clinic for regular examination and medication at the centre which specialises in psychiatry.

At present, people seeking to purchase guns in Kenya are not required to undergo medical examination. All one is required to do when making an application is to convince security organs, at the county and national levels, that he or she faces serious threats to life and property.

A security official privy to operations of the Firearms Licensing Board said it is keen on “economic power” of an individual when making considerations.

It is an open secret that wealthy Kenyans call the shots when it comes to owning guns in the country.  Mr Wahome said: “As it is right now there is no psychological or psychiatric evaluation that is done prior to being licensed and perhaps it is time we considered that. They should produce a report from a competent doctor as one of requirements to be considered. And perhaps it should be done on a yearly basis. The idea is not to punish the holder but to appreciate the fact that in the wrong hands, a firearm can be a very lethal weapon.”

FIREARM

He went on: “As an association we have programmes we take our members through like the law says and show justified reasons for using a firearm. And so we are able to account for our members.”

Mr Wahome, who also sits on the board, thinks that it should be made mandatory for all gun owners to join NGOA.  At present, membership is voluntary.

“Like lawyers and teachers who are members of Law Society of Kenya and Teachers Service Commission, respectively, legislators need to look into that because it is good for accountability. Because the government licenses the people and after that will not know where they go to, what they engage in. This creates a gap, a loophole,” said Mr Wahome.

Regular psychiatric examinations, he also says, should be extended to armed government agencies like the police.

SHOOTING

Over the years, cases of police officers shooting their colleagues or committing suicide using guns have been on the rise.

There is an ongoing initiative within the National Police Service, and it involves compiling a database of mentally ill, physically challenged and alcohol-addicted police officers.

All county and sub-county commanders in the Administration Police Service, the Kenya Police Service and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations are identifying the officers and forwarding lists to the national headquarters.

The move was triggered by the continued occurrence of suicides, murders and other crimes committed by officers.