Nairobi — Hardly a week after police seized a huge cache of weapons in Narok, another arsenal was Tuesday found on a ship at the Kilindini port.

Detectives at the port intercepted seven Somalis and a Tanzanian who were crew members of a Sierra Leone-flagged ship after two rocket propelled grenades and their charging system, a machine gun and 700 rounds of ammunition were discovered on board.

According to a senior police officer who requested not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case, the crew had failed to declare the weapons when they arrived at the port.

He said the seven would be charged in court Wednesday.

Do not permit

Crew of ships that dock into any harbour worldwide are required to declare everything they are carrying immediately they dock. However, maritime regulations do not permit crew members to arm themselves unless under special circumstances.

In the Narok case, businessman Munir Ishmael and his wife Nahid Tabasum and three other people have already been taken to court.

In Nairobi, a businessman was Tuesday charged with possessing government stores suspected to have been stolen.

Mr Michael Musyoki was also accused of creating disturbance in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace. He denied three charges before the Kibera court.

The prosecution applied for the accused to be remanded at Kilimani Police Station to enable police to complete investigations. But the defence objected to the application saying the court had no authority to remand Mr Musyoki in custody awaiting investigations by the police.

Cash bail or bond

The accused's lawyer asked that he be freed on cash bail or bond.

In its ruling the court allowed the police to complete their investigations, but ordered that they hold the accused for three days instead of the four they had asked. The case will be mentioned on Thursday.

In the first count, the court heard that on December 14 at 4am at Cedars Restaurant along Lenana Road in Kilimani, Nairobi, Mr Musyoki blocked the main gate to the restaurant using his Mitsubish Pajero in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace.

He was also accused of possessing 76 rounds of ammunition without a certificate.