Firearms holders to register them in 30 days

Interior Cabinet Secretary Major Gen. (Rtd) Joseph Nkaissery has ordered all civilians holding firearms across the country to register them in the next 30 days failure to which a forceful disarmament will be carried out.

Nkaissery, who was speaking at the burial of Mzee Joseph Mpoke at Impiro village in Kajiado County, also warned politicians who incite the public during the campaign period that they would be arrested and charged.

This comes barely two weeks after Chief Licensing Officer Samuel Kimaru called on civilians who would wish to own firearms to follow the right channels though they are long and register their firearms.

Any member of the public wishing to apply for a license to hold a firearm will follow the following procedure as provided for in the Firearms Act Cap 114 Laws of Kenya; The applicant must obtain forms from the firearm bureau in Nairobi;The applicant also needs to have their need finger prints taken and thereafter a certificate of good conduct from the CID headquarters; The applicant is then required to submit the duly filled form to the police station near their resident together with an introduction letter stating why you need to acquire a firearm.

The area OCS can assist the applicant to complete the forms after which the applicant will be handed over the duplicate copy which he/she should forward to the Central Firearms Bureau with an application fee of 2000 shillings.

Each applicant is then vetted by the district security intelligence committee and the provincial security intelligence committee before rejection or approval.

The vetting is a stringent process that checks your background probing your past and present life, mental health as well as domestic violence records.

Failure to pass one of the checks automatically bars you from being permitted to own a firearm the process is long and can take up to a year before the approval.

If the vetting goes through and you are cleared, your name is then forwarded to the Inspector General of Police who has the final say to instruct the Chief Licensing Officer to clear the applicant.

Once the applicant is cleared he/she is given a license and is allowed to buy a firearm and the details of that firearm are filled in.

The license is renewed once every year.

According to Kimaru, some of the officers have been taking advantage of this process to solicit for money from the members of the public applying for the license to help speed the process.