KINSHASHA, DRC June 25 -Kenya has been handed the lead role in fighting small arms and light weapons within the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa.
The new role in the Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA) now expands the country’s scope of responsibilities, including to foster sustainable peace and security in the region by keeping such arms out of the hands of criminals and terrorists.
Kenya takes over the chairmanship of the RECSA following a unanimous endorsement from the representatives of the organization’s 15 member states.
There are 15 RECSA member states in the region are Burundi, Central Africa Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.
According to Interior Principal Secretary Dr. Raymond Omollo who represented Kenya during a meeting of the Council of Members (CoM) in Kinshasha, Kenya was ready to end violent conflicts, terrorism, organized crimes and humanitarian crises fed and aggravated by small arms and light weapons.
“Kenya pledges unconditional support and commitment to this cause, and I am certain that the role that the member states have assigned us today will make us even more aggressive in against this menace,” the PS said.
Dr Omollo said the prime focus will be on participative leadership and higher levels of mutual support towards reducing the accessibility and availability of illicit arms.
“We will strive to be a true partner, who will not only lead by example but also foster an environment of collaboration, growth, and collective success,” Dr. Omollo said.
He also noted that the country is planning to promote innovative approaches to address the root causes of armed violence, including socioeconomic disparities, poverty, and inequality, which have aggravated humanitarian crises in the region.
In its proposals, Kenya will seek to leverage the power of sharing of resources and expertise to step up disarmament operations and implement innovative security solutions tailored to community needs.
“We believe in a holistic approach, encompassing disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration efforts, as well as robust community-based initiatives,” he said.
“We intend to enhance coordination, regional organizations, and international partners to bolster our collective efforts to improve information-sharing and detect, prevent, and respond to the illicit trade,” he added.
Kenya has been deputizing the DR Congo as the chair of the CoM, the supreme organ that provides RECSA with the necessary policy guidance. The Council is composed of Ministers responsible for Internal Security in the member states.
Among Kenya’s first assignments is to push for the elevation of RECSA’s influence on the continental scale in peace and security initiatives.
The 15 member states now want Kenya to officially submit a request to the AU General Assembly to consider designating the organization as an AU specialized agency on matters of small arms and light weapons.
RECSA has also in the past trained security officers in charge of firearms in their respective stations on physical security measures to ensure that government, illicit or collected weapons and ammunition are not stolen or misused.
Kenya has also made a tremendous progress in marking firearms in order to build a foolproof framework for the control and regulation of licit arms flows, and prevent diversion of such weapons into the illegal and criminal networks.
The police have already marked 98 percent of their firearms stock while the military is at 70 percent with the process.
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