SPDF and police personnel trained in computerised control of small arms |05 March 2013

The training was held at the police headquarters, Victoria and was conducted by officials of the Nairobi-based Regional Centre for Control of Small Arms (Retca), headed by its project coordinator Marie-Claire Umunyeyi who hails from Rwanda.

The training was funded by the European Economic Commission.
The course, which 2nd Lieutenant Alain Pierre said involved acquiring some new skills and polishing up on previous experience, covered various subjects from procurement and purchase of small arms to their tracking and recovery.

He said that now that the system has been computerised, it will be easier for them to draw up reports, assess the number of small arms in the country and render the country and region safer.

Police Commissioner Ernest Quatre said the training to use computers to ease control of small arms is another important step in good policing.

He noted that since small arms are easy to carry or to hide, it is important that their whereabouts are known to national security officers.

Commissioner Quatre said that small arms are lethal weapons, known to have killed millions of people in recent years. He pointed to the trauma in neighbouring countries, notably Somalia.

“We must do everything we can to stop the propagation of such arms in our country and region,” he said.

The training closed with the presentation of two sets of computers and their software to Commissioner Quatre from Retca.

Also present were Police Chief Superintendent Godfroy Hermitte and Retca’s head of legal affairs Barbara Munbeye and software coordinator, Athony Kagotho.