Fresh vetting of private gun owners will proceed as directed by Interior CS Fred Matiang’i after the National Gun Owners Association withdrew an injunction barring the process.
NGAO chairman Anthony Wahome said the withdrawal followed deliberations on Monday with the CS and Attorney General Kariuki Kihara.
“There was good understanding in the meeting and we understood where the government was coming from. They also understood where we were coming from,” Wahome said after the meeting that was also attended by the NGAO legal team.
“The CS assured us and undertook that no member of NGAO who has a valid firearm certificate and is holding firearms legally would suffer any arbitrary revocation of their firearm license.”
Matiang’i had on December 17 last year ordered all gun owners to undergo mandatory fresh vetting within three months.
He said all civilian firearms holders must appear in person before the Firearms Licensing Board for vetting.
The CS also disbanded the Firearms Licensing Board and appointed new members.
The gun holders were to be issued with new smart licenses after the vetting, review and authentication of their weapons and certificates.
Matiang’i said the decision was a matter of national security following lapses in the oversight of gun ownership and use by private citizens.
“Some lapses in the license of firearms dealers, civilian holders, and shooting range owners have led to the illegal possession, transfer, misuse, and trafficking of such weapons thereby posing major threats to national and regional security,” he said.
Matiang’i told illegal firearm holders to surrender them within a 90-day moratorium or face the full force of law.
But NGAO moved to court immediately and obtained a court order stopping the implementation of the gazette notice.
They argued that they saw no point in gun owners with genuine licenses undergoing fresh vetting.