Awash with weaponry: can communities disarm themselves?

As a result of a combination of decades of poor governance and a fragile ecological system characterised by recurrent drought, the pastoral regions of northern Kenya are caught in a vicious cycle of violent conflicts that fuel poverty and diminish the prospects for development. This is all made worse by the easy availability of arms. What causes the proliferation of small arms? Can regional and national gun control policies be implemented in local contexts? Can grassroots campaigns find alternative ways of reducing the numbers of small arms in circulation?

A report from Oxfam GB examines opportunities for the state, communities and donors to work together to promote community safety and sustainable disarmament. The Nairobi Declaration on the Problem of the Proliferation of Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons was signed in March 2000 by Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. For the first time a framework was produced for addressing the small arms epidemic and links were acknowledged between the availability of light weapons and conflicts, fragile state structures, economic deprivation and social decay.

However, because the Declaration is a set of principles and promises in search of an institutional anchor, it is faced with formidable implementation obstacles:

• Planned consultative mechanisms on illicit small arms – known as National Focal Points – have not all been set up.
• The principles of the Declaration would benefit from being incorporated into the mandates of either the Inter-governmental Authority on Development or the East African Community, thereby providing a stronger institutional anchor.
• There should be more emphasis on promoting bilateral mechanisms to curb small arms trafficking.

The problem of small arms is most acute in the pastoral regions of northern Kenya where political and economic marginalisation, an inadequate state presence and precarious socio-economic conditions have provided fertile ground for the spread of weapons.

Inconsistencies in Kenya’s official strategy – moving between armed seizures of weapons by the security forces and presidential amnesties – have worsened ethnic and sectarian suspicions. 

The report demonstrates how local organisations and communities have provided a catalyst for inclusive dialogue with the potential to foster a culture in which communities take ownership of their security concerns. However, while community-led voluntary weapons collection initiatives have had success in some districts, most local peace-building organisations lack the organisational capacity or resources to conduct sustained weapons retrieval programmes. Lack of confidence in the state’s ability to guarantee community safety and security creates little incentive for communities to disarm.

Kenya’s credibility as the regional disarmament leader is dependent on the progress it makes within its own borders – particularly among its pastoral populations. A coherent small arms control policy requires official recognition that:

• State protection is the key to successful disarmament – boosting security in marginalised communities is vital in order to break the culture of self-protection that has resulted from official neglect.
• Communities need economic incentives and guarantees to disarm – such as livelihoods-supporting development projects targeted at communities formerly in conflict.
• Participatory relationships between community organisations and state agencies generate an impetus for disarmament by gradually reducing the need for small arms.
• A comprehensive and participatory national security sector reform process is required to address the state’s weakened capacity in the provision of security to its citizens.
• More must be done to apprehend local arms brokers and dispose of confiscated weaponry in a transparent manner.
• In instances where disarmament is not an option, creative options must be explored – for example, supporting initiatives that encourage the responsible use of weapons and monitoring of communal and clan armouries by communities in collaboration with security agencies.
• Much can be learned from global experience in tackling the root causes of the demand for weapons.

Source(s):
‘Protection and poverty: community weapons collection experiences in northern Kenya’, Oxfam GB, by Gilbert M. Khadiagala, July 2003 (forthcoming) Full document.

Funded by: Oxfam GB

id21 Research Highlight: 4 July 2003

Further Information:
Ciru Mwaura
Regional Policy Co-ordinator – Peacebuilding
Horn, East and Central Africa (HECA)
Oxfam GB
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia

Tel: +251 1 613344
Contact the contributor: CMwaura@oxfam.org.uk

Oxfam GB

Other related links:
'Ending the gun culture: can small arms and light weapons be decommissioned?'

'Understanding the AK-47 and M-16: small arms and development'

'Holding up development: The effects of small arms and light weapons in developing countries'

'Humanitarianism under threat - the impact of small arms and light weapons'

See the World Bank Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme

Further research from the Small Arms Survey publications

More from the United Nations Publications on Small Arms