Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Pézard, Stéphanie and Nicolas Florquin. 2007 ‘Tanzania.’ Small Arms in Burundi: Disarming the Civilian Population in Peacetime, pp. 25-26. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva / Ligue Iteka. 1 August
Relevant contents
Tanzania
Tanzania is definitely a source of arms.
The majority of the arms held by the Palipehutu–FNL apparently come from this country. They enter Burundi via Lake Tanganyika to be unloaded in ports such as Minago, Rumonge, Karonda, Mugina, and Nyanza Lac. The arms are hidden in sacks of goods and in some cases authorities with responsibility for monitoring the lake are willing to turn a blind eye, due either to corruption or to the fear of reprisals on the part of Palipehutu–FNL.
There is also a clear lack of the human and material resources that would be required to keep the 120 km of the lake's shoreline under surveillance.
In the past, Tanzania was a major source of illegal arms for rebel factions in Burundi, and for rebel factions in Rwanda and the DRC.
The region of Kigoma was used as a rear base by many Burundian rebel groups. The proliferation of small arms in the regions of Kigoma and Kagera seems to have contributed to the increase in armed violence and the insecurity of communities.
According to a former member of FROLINA, which had a base in the Kigoma region, in that area the group exchanged cattle stolen in Burundi for arms. The arms obtained in Tanzania were mainly Kalashnikovs; however, machine guns and grenades could also be found. Two Kalashnikovs could be bought for one cow. Sometimes, transactions were the other way round; an analysis of the illegal arms markets in Kigoma shows that some Burundian and Congolese rebels were exchanging arms for food.
[DRC = Democratic Republic of the Congo; FNL = National Liberation Forces; FROLINA = National Liberation Front]
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