Government restricts gun ownership
Aug 29, 2007
THE Government has restricted the import of firearms by private security organisations in a bid to control the number of guns brought into the country. Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, the Inspector General of Police, said some of the guns that were imported were sold to private citizens.<br>
By Charles Ariko
THE Government has restricted the import of firearms by private security organisations in a bid to control the number of guns brought into the country.
Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, the Inspector General of Police, said some of the guns that were imported were sold to private citizens.
“From around 1996, it became a fashion for some wealthy people to own pistols. If you did not possess one, you were seen as someone out of fashion,†Kayihura noted in a speech read by his assistant, Francis Rwego.
Rwego was yesterday representing his boss at a workshop for national and regional firearms officers at Hotel Equatoria in Kampala.
The Police together with the internal affairs ministry have instituted more stringent measures for somebody to acquire a gun, Rwego announced.
“Many of the people who acquired the guns at the time claim they lost them. These days you can only get a gun when there is actual need for it. And you must pass through a long process that starts with the local councils and the district security committee.â€
Kayihura revealed that 60,000 guns and 34,000 bullets were destroyed last year in an effort to get rid of redundant and obsolete arms.
“Proliferation of small arms and light weapons does not affect Uganda alone but the entire region. It is in this light that regional cooperation is required for effective implementation of the control measures,†the Police chief noted.
Ahmed Wafuba, the commissioner in charge of private security and firearms, said he could not disclose the number of firearms in private hands.
The scramble to acquire guns by private citizens was partly driven by the licensed dealers who wanted to increase sales, he explained.
Police and army officers are attending the two-day workshop that was organised by the Nairobi-based Regional Centre on Small Arms.
The workshop is aimed at addressing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons that has become a major problem in East Africa.
THE Government has restricted the import of firearms by private security organisations in a bid to control the number of guns brought into the country.
Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, the Inspector General of Police, said some of the guns that were imported were sold to private citizens.
“From around 1996, it became a fashion for some wealthy people to own pistols. If you did not possess one, you were seen as someone out of fashion,†Kayihura noted in a speech read by his assistant, Francis Rwego.
Rwego was yesterday representing his boss at a workshop for national and regional firearms officers at Hotel Equatoria in Kampala.
The Police together with the internal affairs ministry have instituted more stringent measures for somebody to acquire a gun, Rwego announced.
“Many of the people who acquired the guns at the time claim they lost them. These days you can only get a gun when there is actual need for it. And you must pass through a long process that starts with the local councils and the district security committee.â€
Kayihura revealed that 60,000 guns and 34,000 bullets were destroyed last year in an effort to get rid of redundant and obsolete arms.
“Proliferation of small arms and light weapons does not affect Uganda alone but the entire region. It is in this light that regional cooperation is required for effective implementation of the control measures,†the Police chief noted.
Ahmed Wafuba, the commissioner in charge of private security and firearms, said he could not disclose the number of firearms in private hands.
The scramble to acquire guns by private citizens was partly driven by the licensed dealers who wanted to increase sales, he explained.
Police and army officers are attending the two-day workshop that was organised by the Nairobi-based Regional Centre on Small Arms.
The workshop is aimed at addressing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons that has become a major problem in East Africa.