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Kenya is now engaging her neighbours to rein in cross-border smuggling of illegal firearms that have been fuelling violent conflicts and crimes in the region.

Interior PS Raymond Omollo (pictured)  said yesterday  the government has now reached out to Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somalia with the intent of stepping up the joint efforts against the proliferation of small arms and light weapons among border and nomadic communities.

“Due to their easy availability and low cost, these are the weapons of choice for terrorists, insurgents and criminal gangs in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa,” he said.

The PS was speaking in Nairobi during the opening ceremony of a three-day workshop organized by the Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA).

He stated Kenya’s prime focus is to trim down the availability of these weapons, and ultimately end years of inter-communal conflicts, banditry and livestock rustling.

The resultant atrocities of the foregoing trends, according to Omollo, partly constitute the “high cost” the country has paid for illegal firearms.

Lt. Gen. Badreldin Elamin Abdelgadir, RECSA Executive Secretary, emphasized on the importance of enhancing cross-border capacity to counter illicit trafficking of weapons which will directly complement national, regional and global instruments.