Kampala — OVER 90% (27,199) of the illegal weapons in Karamoja sub-region have been recovered since the inception of the ongoing disarmament exercise in 2001.

A statement issued after a five-day UPDF top leadership disarmament evaluation meeting in Moroto army barracks, said 10% (about 3,000) of the remaining Karimojong guns are buried underground in a bid to evade confiscation.

"Arms trafficking into Karamoja has not been registered for quite a while. Instead, due to the pressure the UPDF has put on warriors, the arms are going away from Karamoja to other areas. We have a well-developed intelligence system which has always detected all arms getting out of Karamoja and made arrests," read the statement.

The meeting was attended by the defence minister, Chrispus Kiyonga, Army Commander Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, UPDF directors and intelligence officers.

About 16,000 guns were recovered in 2004, 1,100 in 2005, 3,936 in 2006 while 2,949 guns were got in 2007.

The statement added that 2,406 guns were collected in 2008 while 808 guns had been collected from January to September this year.

Capt. Henry Obbo, the UPDF 3rd Division spokesperson, said some of the warriors had reverted to manufacturing local guns out of metals.

"These guns can kill but not as lethal as the Sub-Machine Guns which had saturated the region. Investigations are on to smoke out talented blacksmiths who make these guns to apprehend and subsequent court martial," Obbo said.