Criminals unearth buried ‘treasure’

Some people in Siavonga district are said to have discovered a stack of firearms believed to have been buried in the area by freedom fighters before independence in 1964. Minister of Home Affairs Mr Lameck Mangani said according to Siavonga member of Parliament Raphael Muyanga, there are people who are digging the firearms out for use in criminal activities.He said freedom fighters in Siavonga hid firearms underground, thinking that the country’s freedom was temporary and would have to unearth the arms later.

Mr Mangani said the revelation by Sinazongwe Member of Parliament, Raphael Muyanda that there were firearms buried in his constituency should not be taken lightly, hence the need to investigate and establish the truth. Mr.Mangani said he will be sending a team of officers from the ministry to the area to investigate the matter.

He warned that Zambia’s security would be compromised if the circulation of arms was not controlled.

Speaking in Lusaka yesterday, when he officially opened the National mobilisation and arms marking training workshop at Hotel Inter-Continental, Mr Mangani said the ownership of weapons should be scrutinised by the relevant authorities.

Government will soon embark on the marking of all firearms and light weapons in the country to mitigate illegal ownership of arms.

Mr. Mangani said illegal ownership of firearms will be mitigated through the marking, as the arms will easily be identified.

Mr Mangani said officers from the Zambia Police Service will mark the weapons using a pin-marking machine.

“Officers are expected to stockpile and manage small arms and light weapons with the aid of a pin-marking machine. All firearms in the country are going to be engraved with special numbers. This will help in the identification of firearms in terms of their origin and ownership,” he said.

He said the country’s security will be in danger if the ownership of small firearms and light weapons is not controlled.

Mr Mangani said the uncontrolled ownership of arms could lead to an unhealthy environment for economic development.

He said the programme to mark firearms and light weapons is being conducted with the help of the country’s co-operating partners who include the Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA) and the American Embassy in Lusaka.

Mr Mangani said the beginning of marking arms and weapons signifies the strides Government has made in preventing, controlling and reducing the proliferation of weapons in the country.

He said Zambia is responsible to the protocols of the United Nations Programme of Action in the jurisdiction of preventing, combating and eradicating illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.

Mr Mangani said Government is aware that in the recent past, the country was surrounded by countries that were experiencing civil wars which made the proliferation of small firearms and light weapons highly probable.

Mr Mangani also called upon the Inspector-General of Police Francis Kabonde, who is the national focal point for the control of the proliferation of small firearms and light weapons in Zambia, to embark on a countrywide sensitisation programme of the arms marking programme.

He said the programme is critical because people need to know what is happening and that lack of knowledge has proved to be a challenge to the ministry’s directive that people illegally owning firearms can surrender them to the Zambia Police at a fee of K1 million without being punished.

Mr Kabonde warned that the police will not rest until people trading illegally in firearms and light weapons are dealt with.

“I warn those people who are involved in illegal trade and ownership of small arms and light weapons that the Zambia Police and other law enforcement agencies will not rest.

Those that hide these weapons in sacks and pack them in their pickup vans should know that the police will soon catch up with them,” he said.

And RECSA executive secretary Francis Sang reiterated that the records generated in the process of arms marking will ease tractability and identification of the sources and end users of arms within the country.