By Pemphero Malimba:
The Malawi Police Service (MPS) has destroyed at least 733 illegal firearms that were recovered in various parts of the country.
According to MPS, the firearms include 39 pistols, 21 shotguns, 33 AK 47s and 640 manmade rifles.
The police indicate that the firearms were recovered from people who were using them in the country’s game reserves, robbery suspects and relatives of deceased owners of the firearms.
Speaking during the destruction of the rifles at police headquarters in area 30, Lilongwe, Thursday, MPS Deputy Inspector General responsible for operations Ackis Muwanga said the move was aimed at curbing the use of illegal firearms in the country.
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“We know these riffles have taken the lives of our brothers and sisters; they have taken the lives of our animals, which also have an impact on tourism. Therefore, after we recover these riffles or arrest someone who has got these riffles, we take them to court and the courts also give their sentences and finalise all the processes. When they finalised all processes, they gave them [firearms] to us.
“Why are we destroying these? We want to have safer communities in our areas,” he said.
Muwanga attributed the trend of using illegal firearms in the country to the smuggling of the same through the country’s porous borders.
“Our borders with our neighbours are porous. As you can see, there are AK 47s here. These are riffles we cannot use in Malawi. Our neighbours use them and, so, this means these types of rifles are coming from neighbouring countries.
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“Why are they here? It’s because of the porous borders that we have. What we, as the police, are doing now is that we are employing more officers that will be everywhere around the borderlines. So, if we employ more officers, we may reduce these types of behaviours and systems of taking rifles into the country,” he said.
He further challenged community members to report the use of illegal firearms in their areas.
“Let us do our part and support the efforts of law enforcement agencies to make our communities safer by reporting any suspicious activity. Let us work together to build Malawi and a world where peace and security prevail,” he said.
People’s Federation for National Peace and Development Executive Director Edward Chaka said there was a need for more capacity building towards police officers to help fight against the malpractice.
“Continued capacity building of our security institutions in Malawi is needed because, looking at what we have achieved between 2003 and now, we have done very well. Now, if there is more capacity building, all the problems associated with illegal arms can be addressed.
“We have tried to ensure that we have provided capacity to our security agents, including key government institutions in Malawi, and ensure that we ratify the Arms Trade Treaty, which we ratified. Effective implementation is what we are doing now,” Chaka said.
The event was conducted as part of commemorating the international gun destruction day which is held July 9 every year.
This year, the day was commemorated under the theme ‘Reducing The Proliferation of Illegal Firearms in Malawi’.
