A Kenyan youth was on Sunday, July 18, arrested in Homa Bay county for producing homemade fire arms which included pistols and a G3 rifle.
His apprehension came to be as police officers caught wind of the activities through a tip-off from a local resident.
The 32-year-old suspect goes by the name Solomon Otieno Ojwang’.He was arrested in a joint operation carried out by officers from Sori police post and Assistant chief's office of Kasewe B Sub-location.
They raided his house in Ogenga village on Saturday, July 18, catching him in the act. In addition to confirming his activities, police officers found three homemade guns.
The guns included two pistols and another one resembling a G3-rifle. Additionally, three live rounds of ammunition were at the scene.
The Senior Assistant Chief, Hezbon Asero, reported it was likely that Ojwang had been making the illegal weaponry for use in criminal activities.
Rachuonyo East police commander confirmed handing over Ojwang to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Officers (DCIO) in Oyugis police station for further interrogation. He added that he would be arraigned in court next week.
Preliminary police investigations revealed that the suspect was consistently assembling the guns at his residence and trading them to unidentified gangsters.
Law enforcement officers intend to uncover a greater web of criminals involved in the illicit weapon manufacture in Rachuonyo East sub-county.
The sub-county is said to be plagued with criminal activities against its civilian population as well as government personnel.
In June 2021, authorities summoned six staff at Rachuonyo East sub-county headquarters due to a theft incident at the local government offices. In the dead of the night, four computers and a printer were stolen.
At the time, some junior members of staff and police officers had been deployed to guard the building.
A 2012 report by Kenya Products Association (KENPRO) indicates that poverty, low levels of education and access to weapons are among the key causes of crime in hotspots across the country, including Western Kenya.
On Thursday, April 8, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched a gun factory in Ruiru, Kiambu County. He then asked youth operating in the shadowy and illicit practice of making homemade guns to instead join the government firearms factory.
He explained manufacturers of illegal guns have skills that could be of use in the newly launched facility in Ruiru.
Earlier this year, 5,144 illicit firearms recovered by security agencies were destroyed.
