Kenya burns illegal weapons haul

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Kenya's authorities have burned 8,000 guns recovered during operations to stem the flow of illegal weapons.

As the guns were set alight, Kenya's security minister told spectators that instability in Somalia was to blame for the weapons influx in the country.

Kenyan police say some 100,000 illegal guns are in circulation, resulting in high levels of urban crime.

Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda are also said to contribute to the supply of illegal guns in East Africa.

The Regional Centre on Small Arms, which monitors the flow of arms within the Great Lakes Region and Horn of Africa, is spearheading a week-long awareness campaign among its member states to help curb the trend.

Black market

"We are concerned about political stability in Somalia because this is directly affecting our internal security," said Security Minister John Michuki, who led the burning of guns in the capital, Nairobi.

Governments that manufacture arms should establish stringent measures... that will ensure that they track the supply and use of these weapons Oxfam's Beatrice Karanja

The minister defended the government's decision to close Kenya's borders with the country earlier this year.

"Lack of control of movement of weapons has stimulated the illicit flow of guns in the country."

The BBC's Anne Mawathe in Nairobi says an AK-47 rifle sells for $700 on the black market.

Efforts by the government and non-governmental organisations to stem the flow of illegal firearms are slowly bearing fruit, our reporter says.

Activists fighting against the illegal flow of small arms now blame countries that manufacture weapons like the UK, the US and China for the gun menace.

Oxfam says the focus should now turn to such countries which lack accountable measures to monitor their military supplies to the region.

"Governments that manufacture arms should establish stringent measures and better protocols that will ensure that they track the supply and use of these weapons," the charity's spokeswoman in Kenya, Beatrice Karanja, said.

Kenyan security experts say the weapons bonfire may be a step in the right direction.

But, they add, with thousands of other illegal firearms still in circulation and the lack of political stability in the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa, there is still a long way to go to curb the problem.