What does arms control look like from a community perspective? In late April, the Kenyan Community-Led Arms Control (CLAC) Initiative advisory board, led by UNIDIR and Interpeace, visited several heavily armed counties in Kenya’s North Rift region to hear directly from the communities living with the consequences.
Over six days, a team composed of diverse representatives (from UNIDIR, Interpeace, the Small Arms Survey, the Regional Centre for Small Arms Control, Kenya’s Ministry of Interior, National Defence University-Kenya, NEPCOH and local county authorities) conducted focus group discussions, stakeholder consultations, and community meetings. These took place in both urban centres and remote hotspots in Samburu, Baringo, Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet, and West Pokot, where the State’s reach is limited and the presence of illicit weapons is not.
The team interacted with county commissioners, peace directors, National Police Service officers, elders, youth, women, and religious leaders. The findings were highly illuminating. In the Suguta Valley, one elder told the delegation:
Guns have brought more harm than good to our families. Nearly every home has lost someone.
Across all five counties, communities consistently identified three conditions for sustainable disarmament:
- simultaneous action across borders;
- credible post-surrender security guarantees; and
- concrete links between arms control and livelihood support.
Five counties, one picture
Meetings in Maralal, Samburu County, painted a detailed picture of the local security landscape, highlighting the linkages between livestock wealth, raiding and firearms possession. For households living more than ten kilometres from urban centres, guns are considered essential for protection.
A focus group with elders, youth, teachers, religious leaders, and local administrators in Suguta Valley in Turkana County’s Kapedo area highlighted:
- the widespread presence of firearms among young people;
- the uneven effects of Operation Maliza Uhalifu; and
- the urgent need for simultaneous disarmament across neighbouring communities.
The message was clear: unilateral community disarmament is perceived not as a pre-condition for peace, but as exposure and vulnerability.
In Baringo County, community members in Tangulbei and Kolowa in the Kerio Valley traced the roots of arms proliferation to cross-border inflows from Uganda during the 1970s and 1990s. They also reflected on recent voluntary arms surrenders, which followed the arrest of several high-profile individuals in neighbouring areas. That momentum reportedly contributed to the surrender of more than 100 weapons locally, reinforcing an important lesson from the field: accountability at higher levels can create space for meaningful community action.
In West Pokot County, County Commissioner, D.N. Saruni noted that 99% of recovered firearms had been voluntarily surrendered. This is a striking figure that underscores the potential of trust-based approaches to arms control. Community dialogues in Sigor and Orwa-Calabash brought together Pokot and Marakwet participants to share lessons learned and impact from joint farming initiatives between youth from both communities to build trust and cooperation.
What comes next
This first CLAC mission will directly inform the development of UNIDIR’s broader effort to develop a practical “menu of options” for use in community-led arms control initiatives across the globe. UNIDIR’s role in this process reflects its wider commitment to evidence- based and people-centred approaches to conventional arms control connecting global policy discussions to the everyday realities faced by communities most affected by insecurity and armed violence.
