Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja addresses the launch of Africa Amnesty Month 2026 at the Kenya School of Government in Nairobi on 29 September 2026. Photo: Jathan Maina

Kenya has opened a one-month amnesty for anyone holding illicit small arms, light weapons and ammunition, declared at the launch of Africa Amnesty Month 2026 at the Kenya School of Government in Nairobi. Those who surrender within the window face no disclosure, no arrest and no prosecution. Those who do not will be pursued under the law once it closes.

The ceremony was billed as the Launch Ceremony of the African Union Amnesty Month (September) on Voluntary Surrender of Illicit Firearms (Kenya), and it ran to a full morning programme: prayers and introductions, a presentation on the concept of Africa Amnesty Month by Mr. Eric Kayiranga, a look at the small arms and light weapons picture in Kenya by Mr. Francis Wairagu, testimony from reformed warriors who once held weapons, and a documentary on existing initiatives.

Welcome remarks came from the Director of the Kenya National Focal Point (KNFP), the body that has coordinated Kenya's small arms work since 2002. Remarks followed from the Executive Secretary of RECSA, the Regional Centre on Small Arms, the Secretary of the National Steering Committee on Peace Building, and the Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, before the Principal Secretary for Interior invited the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration to address the gathering as chief guest.

The centrepiece was a declaration. In the address delivered at the ceremony, the government declared the one-month amnesty and urged holders of illicit weapons to take the window and "the path to responsible citizenship."

Under the African Union's Africa Amnesty Month rules, adopted by the AU Assembly in July 2017, persons who surrender illegally owned weapons shall not be subjected to disclosure, humiliation, arrest or prosecution. Those who hold on to them after the amnesty ends are considered in violation of national law and are prosecuted accordingly.

That is the trade on offer for the next month: hand the weapon over quietly and walk away, or keep it and face the enforcement that follows. The Kenyan campaign has consistently paired amnesty with a deadline, as Tana River County saw earlier this year when a 60-day window closed and police announced a forceful disarmament operation.

Officials at the launch were direct about why trust decides everything. The amnesty, speakers stressed, only works if communities believe surrendering makes them safer, not more exposed. That is why elders, religious leaders, women and youth representatives, peace committees and the media were all asked to carry the message home.

The government's own tally, given at the launch, stands at 3,000 illicit firearms and 8,000 rounds of ammunition recovered through operations and voluntary surrender, a figure Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen repeated publicly on 18 September 2026 while reviewing security gains under Operation Maliza Uhalifu.

The county picture fills in the detail:

On the destruction side, President Ruto presided over the burning of more than 6,000 illegal firearms at the National Police Leadership Academy in Ngong on 13 June 2025, weapons recovered between 2022 and 2025, most of them through amnesties. The address in Nairobi indicated another such exercise is planned soon.

September is Africa Amnesty Month across the continent. The AU Peace and Security Council has marked it every year since 2017, and the 14th Extraordinary Session on Silencing the Guns, held in December 2020, extended the initiative to 2030, aligning it with Agenda 2063.

This year's continental commemoration was held in Algiers, Algeria, on 14 and 15 September, under the theme Advancing the Silencing the Guns Initiative and Strengthening Sustainable Peace through Shared Experiences on SALW Control and De-mining Action. Recent hosts include Lomé (2022), Maputo (2023), Bangui (2024) and Kampala (2025).

Kenya carries particular weight in that architecture. It was in Nairobi that states of the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa adopted the Nairobi Protocol on the prevention, control and reduction of small arms, and Kenya hosts RECSA, the regional body that supports it. Speakers returned repeatedly to that obligation, including the review now under way on the Protocol to keep pace with new trafficking methods and technologies.

The window is open for one month. The programme focuses on the Rift Valley, North Eastern and Coast regions, with awareness campaigns, mapping of illicit arms, engagement with community peace committees, and the safe collection, registration, storage and eventual destruction of surrendered weapons.

Two things to watch. First, whether the surrender figures climb through October, particularly in wards identified as holding stockpiles. Second, what follows expiry: amnesties in Kenya have consistently ended in targeted operations, and the government has said as much this year.

For the next 30 days, Kenya is asking people to do exactly that, voluntarily.