KAJIADO,Kenya, June 9 – It has always been the position of government not to negotiate with criminal entities that threaten the peace and security of the country.
This is a cardinal rule that the security agencies have time and again insisted, is what separates the law abiding from those that seek to violate the very fabric that glues a nation guided by law.
The government now, albeit temporarily appears to be extending an olive branch to criminals, particularly those said to be in the business of manufacturing or assembling illegal firearms being sold within the Kenyan borders to wreak havoc and promote lawlessness.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday during an exercise to destroy 5,144 illegal firearms and pieces of assorted ammunition at the Regional police Training Centre in Ngong, Kajiado county, called on the ‘self-taught’ gun-makers to abandon their lives in crime and use their gifts to serve their country and earn an honorable living.
“Today, I want to make an offer, Kenya has now began making our own small arms and light weapons and for you out there who are engaged in making these guns for criminals, come let us give you a steady job to make legal weapons. Help grow our economy and defend our country,” said president Kenyatta.
The firearms that were destroyed at an event attended by the country’s top security personnel were recovered in 2020.
The firearms, police revealed were predominantly being used in some of the country’s violent areas such as the cattle-rustling prone north while others were sold to gangs across major urban centers.
“An illegal gun makes you less safe, not more. An illegal gun, no matter your good intentions, makes you a criminal and liable to face the full force of the law,” he said.
The president also extended amnesty to individuals in possession of illegal firearms, directing them to surrender them to the nearest authority.
The firearms destroyed on Wednesday were recovered following a multi-agency approach that encouraged citizens to surrender their illegal guns or reports made to police about individuals in possession of the guns.
“If you have any security issues please come forward. Your responsibility is to engage the government and not to take the law into your own hands,” the President said.
The move is in line with the Africa Union initiative of, “silencing the gun” in Africa.
Meanwhile president Kenyatta also issued a stern warning to leaders who fuel inter-clan conflicts and blame it on terrorism.
“We intend to fight and we have fought Al-Shabaab. But we do not and will never allow leaders and individuals to use the name of Al-Shabaab to continue inter clan animosities and conflicts,” the President said.
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