Victoria Falls — The reluctance by regional countries to implement strict rules and guidelines of the Sadc protocol on firearms is hampering efforts to end the proliferation of small arms used in violent crimes.
This was revealed by the head of the Interpol Regional Bureau for Sadc, Chilika Simfukwe, yesterday on the sidelines of a workshop on the fight against the proliferation of small arms in the region.
“Almost all borders in the Sadc region are porous in this regard and we have to complement each other to fight the proliferation of these firearms which have led to the increase in violent crimes and drug dealing in Sadc,” Simfukwe said.
The workshop was held under the theme “The fight against the illicit accumulation and trafficking of firearms in Africa” and was attended by security officials from Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. It was coordinated by the Regional Centre for Smalls Arms with funding from the European Commission and the African Union.
Simfukwe said the bureau had bought firearm-marking machines which were distributed to member states. “As for Zimbabwe, it received two firearm-marking machines late last year and the personnel has undergone training in this regard,” he said.
