small arms and light weapons among pastoral groups in the kenya ...

68 AFRICAN AFFAIRS
to one official: ‘For ammunition, it is now 60 Kenya shillings (50 pence
sterling) for one live ammunition, since they are not readily available’. 107
This is because of the distance from the source. Guns will not be sold with
an empty magazine. It must have 20 or 30 bullets as part of the deal.
The high price of ammunition reflects its relative scarcity in the Kenya–
Uganda border area. It is interesting that disarmament has reduced the
cost of arms in places because of fear of buying, whilst the cost of ammunition
has gone up. Given that small arms are valueless without ammunition,
it may be that a coordinated strategy to control its supply and use could be
a valuable interim measure to reduce violence and insecurity, whereas the
longer-term efforts to promote complete and sustained disarmament are
pursued, but it is questionable why this has not yet been considered. Good
governance by the governments is essential in curbing the flows from the
LDUs, UPDF and KPR.
Conclusion
The ethnic pattern of acquisition of SALW in the cross-border areas
dates from the pre-colonial era, with recurring themes of communal
resource-based competition, regional instability and insurgencies, state
weakness, marginalization and confrontation with the state. The repressive,
corrupt or non-existent state security in rural areas has led to communities
taking responsibility for their own security. Communities have used
several methods to acquire arms: private purchase, attacks on government
soldiers and revenge battles. In the attempt to improve security in such
remote and difficult-to-manage areas, the states have resorted both to the use
of paramilitary forces and to the pouring of legal weapons into the areas.
While this may provide an increased sense of security in the short term, in the
long term, it would be feeding localized arms races.
The communities living along the Kenya–Uganda border are therefore
trapped in a spiral of rising violent crime and insecurity, which is being fed
by the flow of small arms into the area. Unless checked, the flow of arms
from conflict areas to non-conflict areas is likely to feed this spiral of violence
and insecurity and will ultimately lead to the creation of more violent
communities in the Horn region. The cost of guns has drastically reduced,
indicating that the region is awash with arms. Ammunition prices have
however gone up, implying that more research on ammunition is necessary,
as it could be the best approach to managing the small arms problems
in the cross-border region in the short run.
However, addressing supply without addressing demand is futile; this
article has shown that guns are now an instrument of economic subsistence
107. Interview, name withheld, in Alale, 2006.