Bulk of stolen guns still to be recovered

Most of the firearms stolen from officers during attacks, especially in the Coast and North Rift regions in the last two years have not been recovered, police records indicate.

At least 90 officers have been killed in the last two years and over 130 firearms stolen.

In two incidents that occurred last week, a total of 25 officers were killed and at least 25 rifles — mostly G3 rifles — were stolen.

According to the police, the attack on October 25 left three General Service Unit (GSU) officers dead.

The officers were also stripped of their uniforms and their firearms taken away.

A few days later, another 22 officers were killed and all their firearms stolen. Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo, however, said on Tuesday that five of the stolen firearms had been recovered in an ongoing operation.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku said that any loss of firearms is a concern to the government and there is an elaborate mechanism to recover them. He, however, said that some guns had been recovered.

Police sources say that some of the stolen firearms could have been used during the June Mpeketoni attacks.

In February, a traffic policeman was shot dead and his AK47 stolen by gunmen on a motorbike in Kombani, Kwale.

The attack came just a week after police recovered an AK47 from the Masjid Musa in a raid to break up a controversial meeting in Mombasa.

NINE KILLED

According to police, majority of the guns were lost from 2012. In one incident, nine police officers were killed in Kilelengwani when the attackers stole a total of nine guns and 585 bullets.

Two months before the Kilelengwani incident, two officers guarding the Garissa AIC Church were shot at close range and their firearms stolen.

In March last year, a few hours to the General Election, suspected Mombasa Republican Council attackers killed Changamwe OCPD Otieno Awour, the OCS, and two police officers. They stole a Ceska pistol and two G3s.

On the same day, in Mishomoroni, a Prisons Department sergeant was killed and his AK47 rifle taken.

In another incident in Kilifi, an AP officer was killed and his rifle stolen. At Chumani also in Kilifi, a prison warder, a female police constable and a Kenya Forest Service ranger were killed. An AK47 and a G3 rifle were stolen.

In April 2013, suspected MRC raiders attacked Kisauni’s Frere Town and injured a police officer before stealing his firearm. Scores of suspects were later arrested, but the gun has never been recovered.

Three weeks after last year’s General Election, suspected members MRC attacked an Italian-owned casino and shot two police officers dead.

The gunmen stole the officers’ G3 rifles loaded with 40 rounds of ammunition. Police killed six of the attackers.

In 2012, suspected MRC members disrupted a mock election at St Andrews Primary School, in Malindi.

The raiders attacked an AP officer and stole his G3 rifle. Another group struck at Shelly Beach in Likoni where they killed an officer and stole his gun.

AP spokesman Masoud Munyi said that efforts are being made to recover all the stolen firearms.

“We have lost guns in previous attacks, but no effort is being spared to ensure that we find all the guns in the wrong hands,” he said.

One of the worst attacks on the police in recent times was in November 2012, when bandits shot least 40 officers dead, including some reservists and stole their guns in Baragoi.

However, in May this year, officers from Baragoi Police Station managed to recover three G3 firearms, which had been stolen from the slain police and 165 rounds of ammunition.

The recovery of the guns came about 16 months after the brutal ambush on the officers.