Nairobi — The collapse of Somalia, in the early 1990s and the endemic conflict in the Horn of Africa sparked off a proliferation of small arms, that spilled into stable neighbouring countries like Kenya.

Because Kenya is surrounded by porous borders - Somalia, Ethiopia, north-western Uganda and Sudan - the availability of small and light weapons has undermined the country's peace and security.

The Human Rights Watch report - "Playing With Fire" released late last year said that Kenya's territorial boundaries have long been used for gun running and shipment of weapons destined for warring neighbouring countries.

The consequence of using Kenya as a conduit for arms trafficking has been the spill-over effect in that some of the arms and weapons have found their way into local neighbourhoods and remained in the country.

This, ostensibly, has led Kenya to being vulnerable to arms trafficking, which has also invariably led to heightened crime and violence. The report argues that today Kenya has become a "great" market for guns as opposed to a few years back.

It is believed that the weapons that are sold in the country originate from as far as China and the US. And because Kenya is geographically encircled by a conflict prone area, the arms pass into the country without much hindrance.

These arms are purportedly sold in secret markets. One of these "secret" markets for guns is Kenya's bastion of small arms market place, the expansive "sun-city" of Eastleigh and the major city ghettos, which are inhabited by Somalis, Ethiopians and the Sudanese.

In Eastleigh, a bustling residential area that sometimes is referred to as the mini "Mogadishu" because of the overflooding of Somalis immigrants, arms are sold to interested buyers complete with ammunitions to match the weapons.

The biggest risk of these interested buyers has been dangerous criminals who with as little as Sh5,000, can acquire a firearm with its bullet magazine to boot. The secret arms markets are also believed to be operated in the refugee camps of Kakuma in Turkana District and Daadab in North Eastern Province. Refugees hoping to buy their freedom from the camps have been known to barter it with arms to all those who are interested.

Thus, the build-up of arms in the country has obviously accentuated violent crimes, which manifest in carjacking, home burglary and kidnapping of individuals. The perpetrators of these crimes have been the school dropouts, Mafia-like gangs, the educated but unemployed Kenyans and some say, the ex-Police and even some members of the existing Police Force.

Disenchanted and discouraged by low pay and lack of incentives to boost morale, some Police officers allegedly loan off their guns to hoodlums and seasoned criminals to engage in criminal activities after which they split the booty.

The building of the (Bf) 111 million ammunition plant in Eldoret is also believed to feed into the small arms black market in Kenya. Although the company is supposed to export bullets to the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region, there is no full proof mechanism to stop some of the bullets from finding their way into the local illict arms market.

Security Research and Information Centre (SRIC), a non-government organisation based in Nairobi, that tracks down security, crimes and crime-related issues, says firearms related crimes are on the increase as a result of the easy availability of small arms and light weapons in the country.

Their Kenya Crime Survey report released late 2002 categorises crime in terms of provinces and the nature of the crime. For example, the worst hit "bandit" areas are the North Rift and the North Eastern Province. In Nairobi, the proliferation of small arms manifests itself in carjacking and robbery with violence crimes.

The capital city has the highest number of carjacking in the country. Sixty-one per cent of all carjacking are reputed to take place in Nairobi alone. Areas prone to car jacking have been designated as: Thika Road, Kangundo Road, Kiambu Road, Jogoo Road, and Outer Ring Road. These roads serve Githurai, Dandora, Kiambu, Kayole, Komarock, and Kariobangi North and South residential areas.

In 2002, for example, statistics collected by the SRIC indicate that all crimes conducted in Nairobi were executed using small arms.