Although the donor community may have been impressed, it is not clear whether this single action deterred the poachers from continuing with the trade. Suffice it to say there was evidence that top government officials were indeed the fuel behind this lucrative trade.

Recently the Kenya government was at it again, but this time the Kenya Police torched thousands of guns comprising the bulky AK 47 and pistols of all calibers. It was reported that these guns had been seized from criminals who were either killed or arrested in various incidents. What was not clear was how many lives these guns had claimed.Â

It may be recalled that there have been unconfirmed reports for years that guns known to be in police custody have been loaned to criminals who use and return the same to the police. It is against this background that when Finance Minister Kimunya recently visited Minnesota and proudly announced that as a sign that the Kenyan government was fighting crime they had recently set thousands of guns ablaze, that one could not help wonder who the legal advisers to the Kenya government are. Such an announcement made in USA where the science of forensics is so advanced struck some of those present as embarrassing and a display of ignorance by our own Finance Minister.

Ballistic fingerprinting, "a sub-category of firearms examination, is a forensic method that helps find the gun that was used in a crime by matching the bullet's striations (or striae) with the rifled barrel through which it was fired, or by matching marks on the cartridge case to marks in the chamber and breech. The technique is part of the science of forensic ballistics, and it is an application of tool-mark identification. Also referred to as ballistic fingerprinting, a comparison to the use of fingerprints in forensics." ((Wikipedia) The Kenya Police can not claim they are not familiar with this arm of forensics which is indeed the less sophisticated technique in this fast growing field of science.

Many Kenyans have lost their lives through these guns and their loved ones may never know who the killers were and whether they have or will ever be brought to book. The government it seems was more interested in the publicity rather than bringing to justice the criminals or to assure the bereaved citizens that no stones will be left unturned until justice is done.Â

Kenyans have been gullible for too long and must now rise and demand accountability from all sectors of their government. It is curious that legal bodies such as the Law Society of Kenya have remained mum over such a travesty of justice.

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written by collinsom92 , March 31, 2007

one shortfall of Kenyans is sugarcoating ignorance.what the government did was absurd and indicates how backward we are in this day and age.

This kind of ignorance is exhibited nt only in the police department but also in the political arena,our courts and dealings with grand corruption among many sectors.

We certainly need a change of guard, Kudos George for your intelligent observation and well written piece!

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written by Kamale , March 31, 2007

What Nyangweso would prefer is these guns to be still stored in police custody and be loaned to thugs to kill a few more Kenyans.

He has also not told us whether he checked if the police had completed their ballistic tests on the guns hence they could be destroyed. Do we know if this is the case? Why not then give the police the benefit of doubt?

As is Kenyan practice, we are happy to criticise this action. But what would you have done? Do you have an alternative solution for dealing with these guns?

Perhaps a change of government can save these guns from destruction!!!!

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written by Bosibori , March 31, 2007

Well considering Kenya boasts of a fathom forensic lab :roll: those guns will not be undergoing any forensic scrutiny in the near future,in my opinion they are better off destroyed as opposed to them being rented to some trigger happy rogue !Maybe the act of burning those guns was really not a near sighted move of absurdity but more of a discerning move in the best interests of Mwananchi.

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