How Uganda has dealt with the problem of small arms

Apr 20, 2005

THE Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa have realised the need for the control of small arms and light weapons (SALW), after suffering their effects for half a decade.

THE Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa have realised the need for the control of small arms and light weapons (SALW), after suffering their effects for half a decade.

These arms have devastated lives and livelihoods in the region, fomented conflict, crime, terrorism, hindered development and exacerbated poverty.

Small arms have been used to kill thousands of people in conflicts, used for cattle rustling and criminal activities.
Thousands more are injured, terrorised or are forced out of their homes into becoming refugees or internally displaced persons in Uganda and across the region.

Many local, regional and international efforts have been put in place to deal with this problem.

In an effort to implement the Nairobi Declaration on Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (2000) and the Nairobi Protocol (2004, delegates from 10 countries of the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa converged at Joka’s Hotel, Kireka to discuss and approve a training manual for law enforcement agencies, on small arms and light weapons.

Eric Turyatunga, the assistant inspector general of police in-charge of administration, presided over the function.

Countries which participated in the workshop included Rwanda, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Seychelles, Burundi and Uganda. “The workshop was to introduce the training curriculum on small arms to practitioners, who will be instrumental in implementing the Nairobi Protocol,” Richard Nabudere, the coordinator, Uganda National Focal Point (NFP) on SALW, said.

Facilitators of the workshop came from Safer Africa, a South African-based NGO, Security Research and Information Centre of Nairobi, Nairobi Secretariat and Interpol Sub-regional Bureau, Nairobi.
However, what is the Nairobi declaration?

The declaration addresses the problem of illicit SALW and the devastating effects they have on security, the states of the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa. The states signatory to the declaration, commit themselves:

  • To rededicate efforts towards the peaceful resolution of conflicts in the region


  • To comprehensively address the problem of the proliferation of illicit SALW.


  • To join efforts to address the problem through information-sharing and cooperation and to implement a concrete and coordinated agenda for action to promote human security and ensure that all states have in place adequate laws, regulations and administrative procedures to exercise effective control over the possession and transfer of SALWs.


  • In April 2004, the state parties to the Nairobi declaration signed the Nairobi protocol, which establishes mechanisms for the strengthening and harmonising laws and regulations and promotes regional cooperation of law enforcement agencies.

    The protocol, which gives legal effect to the Nairobi Declaration, has been ratified by the Government of Uganda.
    Uganda is party to a number of other international and regional agreements and protocols designed to address the problem of illicit SALW, including:

  • United Nations Programme of Action on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its aspects.


  • The UN Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking of firearms. Their parts and components and Ammunition.


  • Bamako Declaration on an African common position on the illicit proliferation, circulation and trafficking of SALW.

  • In order to help coordinate action and policy to promote the implementation of these agreements and protocols, the Government of Uganda has established the NFP on SALW, a multi-agency body based at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

    The UNFP comprises a number of Government ministries and security/law enforcement agencies, as well as representatives from the civil society.

    The NFP has established 12 regional task forces (RTF) to coordinate and implement the national action plan at regional level.
    The RTFs are based on the police administrative regions and structured in the same manner as the NFP.

    A RTF consists of regional officials from the Police, UPDF, Internal Security Organisation, Immigration, Customs, Wildlife, as well as representatives from civil society,” said Nabudere.

    He added that a National Action Plan, which outlines the strategy and framework for implementing the Nairobi Declaration, Nairobi Protocol and other international and regional instruments at the national level, NAP was set. Implementation commenced on July 1, 2004.

    The NAP is the outcome from a country-wide mapping process carried out between November 2002 and March 2003, to understand and define the scope of the small arms problem in Uganda, its impacts, the country capabilities available to deal with the problem and identify constraints and opportunities, relating to the development of strategies to address the problem.
    The plan constitutes of activities focused around the strategic concepts of control, reduction and prevention.

    In a weekly press briefing in Nakasero recently, the Minister of state for Internal Affairs, Kezimbira Muyingo, said the Government plans to institute policies and review of legislation, which will see the replacement of the existing Firearms Act and consolidate or amend all other laws, which has reference to firearms, explosives and related materials, rationalise the management and licensing of firearms, establish a national central firearms registry for all government-owned stocks and civilian licensed firearms.

    He added that the Karamoja disarmament exercise is one of the efforts aimed at collecting weapons in illegal hands from circulation. He also said the Government has established a strong network with civil society organisations to deal with the problem.

    With these efforts in place, one can hope that the problem of proliferation of small arms will be dealt with and the region will have peace.

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