8,000 illegal guns burnt last December - Matiangi

At least 8,000 firearms and 300,000 bullets were confiscated and burnt in December last year, Interior CS Fred Matiang'i has said.

The CS said this number could increase as a multi-urgency task force compile other thousands of ammunition and firearms to be destroyed.

Matiang'i made the announcement on Wednesday while addressing the state of illegal trade at the Mombasa port. 

He said the port has been compromised by the illegal movement of counterfeit goods and services including movement of fake medicine, wildlife and forestry products, human trafficking and illegal weapons.

"We have got serious issues recently with the number of arms in illegal hands. The firearms destroyed are only the ones we managed to get from conflict areas in the country. It tells you that we have very serious problems that we need to deal with when it comes to checking the movement of goods and services through our ports," he said.

Matiangi said, Kenya being the getaway for trade in the East and Central Africa, Mombasa Port has been at the centre of transportation of goods.

While giving a breakdown of movement of cargos in the port in 2019, he said container traffic in the port of Mombasa alone increased by 10 per cent from 2018.

"In 2019, the port handled Sh34 million tonnes of through port cargoes to Kenya which is a sharp increase from Sh28.5 million tonnes in 2018 during the same period," he said.

Cargo transportation to other countries was up by 136.8 per cent in the same period.

The Mombasa port is currently ranked fifth in the continent.

"We are sure once we operationalise Lamu Port also, we will be having massive cargo movement in our ports," he said.

Matiang'i urged the government to establish a policy or a legal framework that will enable coordination and collaboration between the Anti-Counterfeit Agency, Financial Reporting Center, the Director of Public Prosecutions together with the Ministry of Interior and National Coordination.