An audit ordered by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has revealed how police officers have been colluding with Firearms Licensing Board (FLB) to issue fake firearms certificates to civilians.
The audit showed that some members of the disbanded FLB colluded with officers commanding police stations (OCS) to issue firearm certificates to civilians, bypassing strict measures.
Civilians were charged as much as Ksh200,000 for a certificate, yet the legitimate process costs only Ksh2,000.
The investigations also showed that the board did not harmonise and update the dealer and civilian firearms registry, exposing the country to the risk of not being able to detect illegal guns.
It also emerged that some police officers attached to the bureau were issuing certificates by manipulating the system, resulting in documents with identical numbers.
The process of acquiring a firearms license can take up to two years.
The approval begins with the OCS, who vets the applicant to ensure that he or she has a valid reason for holding a firearm, a holster, knowledge of using firearms, is of sound mind, and has a home for keeping the firearm.
Some civilians circumvented this process by paying some board members to help them get certificates faster.
“This is what angered the CS and forced him to disband the board. He realised that there were so many gaps in record keeping, yet people still managed to acquire certificates by paying bribes,” a source close to the CS told the Nation.
Last week, Dr Matiang’i dissolved the FLB, but he set up a new board on Thursday.
