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Former Rift Valley Regional Coordinator George Natembeya claimed that bandits wreaking havoc in Laikipia are using sophisticated weapons and most people thought it was a joke.

But on October 12, security officers killed an armed bandit in Longowean, Samburu West and recovered an M16 rifle that had 25 rounds of ammunition. The bandit was among a gang that had attacked the area and driven away 27 heads of cattle.

Police arrested Dakitari Lokombayo and presented him at Maralal court last week Tuesday and is still being held as the police were given two weeks to conclude investigations.

Earlier on, Natembeya said that while the police are using ordinary AK-47 and G3 rifles, he wondered where the bandits got the M16 and other military weapons.

Intelligence reports indicate that they get the sophisticated weapons and food from their leaders in support of Moranism.

According to Nation, Ethiopian rebels known as Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) anf others are the main sources of such guns.

They are then smuggled to the country through porous boarders. The DCI have commenced their investigations into this.

A senior officer at DCI said the assault rifle recovered from the arrested bandit had a flag of a neighboring country and was manufactured in the US.

Gun laws are strict in Kenya. For one to acquire, it requires a comprehensive background check and interviews. However, pastoralist communities who rarely have government security get the guns from black market.

These rifles are acquired from leaders who support cattle rustling. They offer them at a price between Ksh 5000 and 20,000 or two cows depending on the type of gun.

Kenya easily gets the guns as it is surrounded by countries in conflict such as the South Sudan where local communities sell them for food.

Others are Somalia, Ethiopia and Uganda. The Deputy Director of the National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Mr. Charles Owino said the government is not giving up on the war on illegal firearms.

He added that East African countries like Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and the 15 countries who are members of the Nairobi Protocol for the prevention, control and reduction of small arms and light weapons in the Great Lakes region and the horn of Africa to fight against the proliferation of illegal firearms in the region.

A security expert, Mr. Richard Otieno said it’s a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the US army.

The original M-16 rifle was 5.56mmĂ—45mm assault rifle that can fire 40-60 rounds per minute.

In 1964, M-16 entered the US military service and in the subsequent year, it was deployed for use in jungle warfare during Vietnam war.

It has been widely adopted by armed forces around the world. The worldwide production of M-16 rifles is approximately eight million of the 5.56 mm caliber.

In 2016, a report indicates that there are over 600,000 illegal firearms among the pastoralist communities in Kenya and up to 700,000 illicit arms countrywide .

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Months after the long-serving National Police Service Spokesperson Charles Owino was moved to the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons as a Deputy Director, Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai has made his replacement.

IG Mutyambai on Tuesday August 17, 2021 appointed Bruno Soshio, a seasoned detective as the new police spokesperson.

The appointment makes Soshio the third spokesperson at NPS under the new dispensation, which started in 2012.

The Kenya Police and Administration Police Service were put under one command of the Inspector General of Police, under the new dispensation .

Owino was moved following changes in the National Police Service announced by IG Mutyambai on May 8, 2021.

Established in 2003, the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons bring together government and civil society and is charged with the responsibility of coordinating all of Kenya’s actions on small arms.

But who is Bruno Soshio, the man that has now replaced Charles Owino?

Well, before his deployment, Soshio who is a former deputy head of the Banking Fraud Investigations Unit served at the UN headquarters, New York.

At the time Ndegwa Muhoro served as the Director of Criminal Investigations, Soshio also served as his personal assistant.

After the Garissa University College terror attack that occurred on April 2, 2015, Soshio was among five officers appointed to investigate the incident and conduct general response to it.

He now comes in at the time the National Police Service is facing pressure from the public following recent murders where police have been accused of executing.

It is also just a year to the next general election. Do you think he will deliver?

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Residents of Bar Atheng in Ugunja, Siaya County were on Saturday July 3, 2021 treated to a drama when former police spokesperson Charles Owino and Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi publicly clashed during the burial of 2017 Siaya Woman Representative aspirant Florence Aluodo.

Siaya County Governor Cornell Rasanga’s 2022 succession politics took center stage as Owino and Wandayi vowed to outsmart each other in the 2022 Siaya Gubernatorial race.

Mr. Owino said that will be seeking the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party ticket in the upcoming nominations, daring Mr. Wandayi to rig him out.

While trying to woo voters, the long-serving police boss promised to transform the county for the better.

Mr Owino, who has since been moved to the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons as a deputy director, accused Mr Wandayi of conspiring to deny Ms Aluodo victory despite winning the ODM primaries in 2017.   

Mr Wandayi, however, denied the allegations and assured Mr Owino that the party’s primaries and next year’s polls will be free and fair.

The Ugunja MP told Mr Owino to prepare to face him in the ODM primaries which he said will be free and fair, and accept whichever results will come out.

Mr Wandayi said that the ODM party is continuing with preparations for the 2022 General Election even as they wait for the Court of Appeal ruling on the Building Bridges Initiative set for August 20.

Ms Aludo died of Covid-19 complications while undergoing treatment at Mater Hospital in Nairobi.

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