Mombasa, KENYA: Coast region commander Nelson Marwa has ordered all illegal gun holders in the region to surrender their firearms, so as to curb gun related crimes.
Speaking during a press briefing at his office in Mombasa on Wednesday, Marwa said there has been reports that gun related crimes have increased in the region.
“Gun related crimes statistics have gone high and as we are headed for the elections we need to be careful to curb harassment cases from those who have licensed guns,” he said.
Marwa said they will hold a crackdown on all illegal gun holders and at the end of the exercise they will name and shame the offenders.
The regional boss further said that Nyali constituency has the biggest number of guns.
“Nyali is leading in number of guns, if you are an innocent Kenyan without anything to fear about why carry 2 guns, if you see someone carrying 2 guns he is an international criminal! Are you protecting heroin and cocaine?” He added.
Marwa said they are also conducting a crackdown for drug barons and suppliers in the region and that every individual is being monitored.
He further called for a good and competitive working relationship between the county traffic marshals and national traffic officers, to ensure efficient service delivery to the public.
“We have information that people are complaining of harassment from the county officers , Mr. traffic Commander I want to know who they are, how many inspectorate officers are there? What are their qualifications, are they properly inducted on traffic commands,” said Marwa.
Marwa also issued a warning to youths to avoid being used to cause chaos during rallies.
“There has been a new thing that people hire drug addicts and youth to cause chaos during rallies we are headed for the elections we need law and order,” he said.
On Tuesday, Kongowea MCA Jabez Oduor alleged that the county government has tolerated abuse of guns in the area and in future Mombasa might be linked to countries that witness a lot of gun related crimes.
“If we tolerate this Mombasa County government for another 5 years, Mombasa will become another Columbia.” Said Jabez.
