Residents of Baringo have been urged to surrender illegal firearms and get amnesty in a bid to restore peace in the volatile Tiaty, Baringo South and parts of Baringo North Sub-counties.
Speaking after a two-day sensitization exercise of local administration at a Kabarnet resort on Wednesday, Rodgers Bosire from the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons told KNA that residents had until October 30 this year, to surrender all illegal firearms to any leaders and would not be victimized for it.
“We are targeting areas with pastoralist communities all over Kenya including Marsabit, Samburu and Turkana and no one will be charged in a court of law for possession of illegal firearms and this is in a bid to restore peace and end banditry,” Bosire said.
Bosire added that the amnesty that started in the year 2017, has seen over 57,000 firearms and over 400,000 ammunitions surrendered.
County Commissioner Abdirisak Jaldesa who spoke to KNA during the meeting said the local security team was happy about the amnesty as the government was keen on ensuring that peace prevailed.
“Take advantage of the amnesty and return illegal firearms voluntarily and so far, 36 have been returned. As a county we have suffered due to banditry and loss of livelihoods and we urge residents to live together in peace,” Jaldesa said.
The CC said the work of the government was to protect its citizens and there was no need for one to have an illegal weapon and appealed to residents to surrender firearms to enforcement officers.
A survey conducted by the organization in the year 2012 estimated that there were between 500,000 to 600,000 illegal firearms in the country.
By Caroline Cherono
