Rwanda has been commended for its assiduous efforts to eradicate illegally owned small and light firearms which are believed to be a major threat on the continent especially the war ravaged countries, those recovering from conflicts or are facing political strife.
Francis K. Sang the executive secretary of the Regional Center on Small Arms (RECSA) exclaimed on the need for collaboration especially within borders where illegal trafficking of fire arms takes place.
“We chose to have this meeting here because we believe that Rwanda has tremendous programs to wipe out illegally owned firearms”, he said while speaking in a two day conference involving Eastern, West and Central African police Associations in Kigali last week.
The meeting that brought together police Associations that fight illicit arms on the continent aims at finding mechanisms of eliminating illicit firearms in Africa.
The inspector General of Rwanda National Police (IGP) Emmanuel Gasana said that almost 32,000 small and light arms have been destroyed since 2003.
He also noted that registration of arms is still on progress. Meanwhile RECSA which was formed 11 years ago in Nairobi and has so far destroyed 110,000 firearms in member countries.
Reacting on the same, Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama stressed that it was important for the organizations to harmonize their efforts by setting up focal points which would coordinate activities that fight illicit accumulation and trafficking of firearms as well as explosive materials in the continent.
Karugarama further pointed out that among ways of reducing cross border trafficking of firearms was by destroying large numbers of surplus, obsolete, unserviceable and unexploded ordnances (UXOs),marking legally owned firearms, enacting laws related to arms as well
as establishment of a database record on all national focal points in charge small arms and light weapons.
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