Poverty Drive Insecurity in African Cities, Case Study Nairobi, Kenya

The Arms transfer and trafficking is having a devastating impact on Africa. The proliferation of small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) is no doubt a global phenomenon whose adverse effects are most visible in Africa. These weapons make conflict more deadly and crime easier, feeding cultures of retribution and downward spirals of violence around the world. This has undermined the nations development. The wide spread of abuse of weapons deprives developing countries of the skills and talents of the victims of the small arms. The arms are also commonly used in domestic and transnational crime. In culture of violence and gun-ownership these weapons become symbols of power and pride, even objects of affection. The ownership of such weapons as AK-47 rifles conferred a political, social and economic status. In northern Kenya a very high male population possesses illegal arms, a report by the Nairobi based Security Research and Information Centre-SRIC entitled profiling small arms to be about 127,519. It is the prevalence of insecurity in this region that has contributed to the gun culture.