By Mabinty Kamara
The Sierra Leone National Commission on Small Arms (SLNCSA) has announced a 90-day amnesty to allow people with unregistered guns hand them over or have them licensed.
The amnesty runs from between 1, January and 31, March 2016, said (Rtd) Colonel Saa Anthony Sinah, Deputy Commissioner, SLNCSA, adding that it covered non-military weapons allowed to be used only for gaming and security purposes.
He told Politico that only non-military weapons like hunting guns, which were used by farmers to protect their crops against destructive animals, and non-automatic pistols used for gaming and for security purposes, would be registered for personal use. Military guns such as AK47, Rocket Propelled Grenades and such destructive weapons were strictly forbidden for civilian use, he added.
In August 2012 the country lifted a 1996 ban on a pre-existing 1954 law which legalized gun ownership. The colonial era law was suspended in the middle of the 1991-2002 civil war. And in 2012 the ‘Arms and Ammunition Act’ replaced the 1954 law making way for the current one.
The Small Arms Commission said the move to legalize gun ownership was to encourage people to handover their weapons.
Some people had questioned the rationale behind the move, which critics said was only bound to increase a national crime rate already at an alarming level by legally placing weapons in the hands of criminals.
On the streets the feeling is mixed.Taxi driver Musa Brima said even when gun ownership was prohibited there were endless reports of armed robbery.“I wonder what will now become of our country,” he said.
But Colonel Sinah insisted that legalization would reduce crime rather than increase it, and he said the requirement for licence was so stringent that it would make it harder for the wrong person to own a gun.
The Commission, he said, would check for criminal record, physical and mental fitness before granting licence. They also tried to ensure that the owner of a gun was not involved with any harmful drug, he said.
Additionally, the person should be recommended by a senior citizen usually a Paramount Chief, a Member of Parliament, councilor, or a tribal head, the deputy Commissioner said.
“This is just to help the police with their investigations. A gun can easily be identified by it user when it is registered. But if guns are left unregistered, chances are that one might use it to cause havoc and throw it away since he or she cannot be traced,” he said.
The license fee for a pistol is Le 4million (US700), while a hunting gun attracts Le250, 000 (US$45), all renewable on an annual basis.
Up to last week, 20 people had responded to the amnesty by registering their guns, according to the Commission, which also said that a license could be withdrawn at any time in the event the holder defaulted on any of the above conditions, or they were found misusing the weapon or engaging in any illegal activity.In addition, such a person would face legal action for their actions.
The deputy commissioner warned all those whose weapons had been licensed to use them judiciously and for the purpose for which it was registered. He added that for those who were yet to register their weapons, they would face the full force of the law when caught.
The SLNCS was established by an Act of Parliament in 2010 to control the proliferation, illicit possession and use of small arms and light weapons in the country. It was an offshoot of the 2003 National Focal Committee (NFC) on Small Arms operated within the Ministry of Defence (MoD). In 2004, the NFC was moved over to the Office of National Security (ONS) under the Office of the President.
A year later, the NFC was transformed into a Directorate of Small Arms and Light Weapons and in 2010 Parliament passed into law the Bill to establish the SLNCS.
The Commission was established in compliance with Article 24 of the ECOWAS convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and Other Related Materials.
With its meager resources from its annual subvention, SLNCS officials say they can barely implement their planned programmes.
The Commission was partly being aided by donor funding, notably the UNDP.
One manifestation of the funding shortfall was the inability of the Commission to expand beyond the capital, Freetown. This meant that anyone who wanted to register or handed over their guns could do so only by traveling to the capital from other parts of the country.
Sinah admitted that this is likely to serve as a deterrent.
The current fleet of vehicles donated by UNDP some eight years back was hardly fit to travel through the long and difficult provincial terrains, said Sinah.
He said repeated promises by government to provide the necessary funding were yet to materialize.
(C) Politico 26/01/16
