The new board will be mandated to establish a digital registry of licensed firearm holders who shall be required to apply for new certificates/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 29 – The Firearms Licensing Board has a new team following recent disbandment by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi.
Matiangi says he has appointed Charles Mukindia to chair the board with six members who will all serve for a period of three years.
The board members are David Kahinga, Jackson Kimutai Rotich, Vincent Wahoro, Nancy Kabete, Justin Odhiambo Khaduli and Lazarus Mbondo.
The appointments are contained in a Gazette Notice published Wednesday, a week after the Cabinet Secretary announced disbandment of the previous board following accusations of inefficiency.
There have been claims of massive corruption in the guns licensing process leading to poor records management in what is also blamed on the rise in firearms misuse lately.
The new board will be mandated to establish a digital registry of licensed firearm holders who shall be required to apply for new certificates.
The membership of the Firearms Board includes two representatives from the National Police Service, one from the State Law Office, the Kenya Wildlife Service, National Intelligence Service, and the National Focal Point on illicit arms.
The Firearms Act (2015) also provides for a secretariat that aides the boards in the discharge of its mandate.
The Act tasks the board with certifying suitability of applications and reassessing proficiency of firearm holders.
The board keeps a centralized record management system of a firearm, holders, dealers and manufacturers.
The regulating Act outlaws the possession of firearms and ammunition without the requisite certificate from the board.
READ: Firearm holders to be listed afresh, govt to establish digital registry
Equally outlawed is the purchasing or assembling of armoured vehicles without a certificate from the licensing board.
Persons found to have convened regulations under the Firearms Act (2015) are liable prison terms “not less than seven years and not more than 15 years.”
Government agencies have in the recent past arrested individuals over violation of the Firearms Act.
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