HOME affairs minister Stephen Kampyongo is urging members of the public to take advantage of the amnesty period by surrendering firearms that were illegally acquired.
Kampyongo told Parliament on Thursday that citizens were better off now to take advantage of the amnesty to avoid being prosecuted for illegal possession of firearms.
“The disadvantage of citizens not taking advantage of the amnesty period is that the ministry shall go into what is called ‘a clean-up’ exercise and those who will be found wanting will be prosecuted for illegal possession of firearms,” Kampyongo warned.
He said when members of the public surrender the firearms voluntarily, there is a token of appreciation that will be given to them by the Zambia Police.
Kampyongo said Zambia was part of the African Union agenda of silencing the guns in the year 2020.
“The firearms amnesty programme was a very effective programme and it was evidenced by the number of people who had taken advantage of it to surrender illegally acquired firearms,” Kampyongo said.
He noted that the ministry did not auction the firearms confiscated but that they were destroyed by the police.
“This is so because the sources of these firearms are questionable, therefore, the state cannot start utilising firearms that were acquired in that fashion,” Kampyongo said.
He further encouraged AU member states to put legal frameworks to ensure that importation and trade in firearms was tightened up and that very little room was left for private players and traders to import firearms without control.