If you are hiding an illegal gun, the clock is now ticking. Police have given holders of illicit small arms and ammunition a limited window to surrender the weapons voluntarily, as Kenya joins the African Union’s 2026 Africa Amnesty Month campaign to get illegal arms out of civilian hands.
Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja delivered Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen’s message during the launch of the campaign, calling on people holding illicit firearms to surrender them within the one-month amnesty period.
The initiative targets illegally held small arms, light weapons and ammunition, with the government seeking to encourage voluntary surrender rather than allowing such weapons to remain in communities.
The amnesty is part of the African Union’s wider Silencing the Guns initiative, which promotes the voluntary surrender and collection of illegally owned firearms and ammunition. The AU says people who surrender illicit weapons during the amnesty should not face disclosure, humiliation, arrest or prosecution under the initiative’s framework.
The move comes amid continued government efforts to tackle the circulation of illicit firearms, particularly in areas affected by banditry, cattle rustling and armed violence. Kanja has previously said security operations would target illegal firearms in the hands of criminals.
The one month window therefore gives holders of illicit weapons an opportunity to hand them over voluntarily, while authorities continue efforts to trace and recover firearms that remain outside the legal system.
