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Number of guns in Uganda unknown
By Steven Candia
THE Government does not know the number of firearms in circulation in the country, the state minister for internal affairs, Matia Kasaija, told delegates at a small arms workshop in Kampala on Friday.
The disclosure jolted some of the delegates who questioned what was being done to address the issue. The workshop was aimed at exploring ways of speeding up the implementation of the Nairobi Protocol on small arms and light weapons.
Opening the workshop at Hotel Equatoria in Kampala, Kasaija said: “How many firearms are in circulation? Even the Police doesn’t know.” He added that there is “no clear system to know who has a gun”.
The above realisation, Kasaija said, is disturbing given that Uganda is now in the “Dot Com era” where everything should be computerised.
He called for more strict measures to curb the proliferation of small arms.
Four countries Angola, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic are due to join the Eastern Africa body in the fight against the proliferation of small arms.
Published on: Saturday, 21st February, 2009
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