KIGALI – Following Rwanda’s successful implementation of the 2001 UN programme of action on small arms and light weapons, the country has been commended for its efforts towards eradicating the illicit traffic.  

Kigali hosted a two-day meeting under the U.N coordination, bringing together representatives of 15 countries from within the Great Lakes Region, Horn of Africa and Southern Africa.

Rwanda emerged outstanding in the fight against illicit small arms and light weapons proliferation, using methods of marking legally owned arms and destroying those illegally possessed.

Acting Commissioner General of Police Mary Gahonzire said ordinary Rwandans played a vital role in achieving this goal as they willingly brought to out weapons that were illicitly owned.

"In other countries people are paid to bring weapons to public attention, but here our citizens have been collaborative,” she said.

Speaking at the opening session of the meeting, Gahonzire stressed that illicit proliferation and circulation of small arms and light weapons is a major threat to any country’s peace, security and development, in a sense that it generates social disorder.

"As a country we suffered in 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi partly because of small arms and light weapons,” she told the meeting that was attended by representatives of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the department of Peace and Security in African Union (AU).

"That is why Rwanda is now at the forefront of the fight, and I hope other countries can learn from what we are doing.”

Representing Tanzania at the meeting, Dominic Hayuma said there is need for countries to cooperate while fighting illegal circulation of small arms.

"We need a common operation for all the countries to fight the vice,” he said, expressing optimism that the recommendations from the meeting would facilitate the move.

Abdillahi Guedi Odaali from Djibouti said many more meetings of this kind were needed to strengthen capacities and strategies to deal with small arms proliferation, though adding that his country did not suffer hard from the vice.

According to the Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA), Rwanda has carried out arms destruction exercises that have, since January 2009, seen over 16,000 obsolete, surplus and illegally held firearms destroyed.

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