Illegal arms still a threat to Africa’s security

The proliferation of small arms and light weapons continues to pose threat to people's lives in countries in the Great Lakes region, the Horn of Africa and bordering states. The biggest challenge these countries face are porous borders of African countries.

Several arms have been confiscated by the Regional Centre on Small Arms (Recsa), an inter-governmental organisation coordinating the fight against the proliferation of illicit small arms. Recsa's technical committee is meeting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to discuss progress made to combat the problem.

The Nairobi Declaration and the Nairobi Protocol are agreements reached by countries experiencing the proliferation of small arms and light weaponry. With these agreements, the countries coordinate the seizures, collection and the destruction of illegal fire arms.

Recsa executive secretary, Francis Sang, says these countries are now meeting to find new solutions to combat the problem. "Although a number of weapons have been confiscated and destroyed, the problem continues. Now they have to find new strategies."

The programme, set up by Recsa, is another attempt to end the endemic conflicts in the region and to promote peace. The foreign ministers of the affected countries will meet in October to chart the way forward.