South Sudan Arms Control: Government appeals for funds to help disarm civilians

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02:36

South Sudan is asking for help to disarm its population, hoping international donors will step in. Decades of civil war have left Africa's newest country flooded with firearms. CGTN's Patrick Oyet spoke to one gun owner about what it would take to convince him to give up his weapon.

Sebit Charles has had this gun for five years. He is not a member of any organized armed forces in South Sudan. He has no license to possess the weapon. But he says he will keep it.

SEBIT CHARLES GUN OWNER "Even if thieves or what is called unknown gunmen come and when you call the government, the government cannot response on time, so I think it's good for me to own a gun to protect the family because when they come I will fire one bullet up and they will run away."

PATRICK OYET JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN "This is one of the most common types of guns in South Sudan, it's easy to use, you just open this part which is known as safe, cork the gun and once you pull this trigger, the bullet would go off, even children as young as ten years old do operate this weapon here, researchers say almost half the country's population is armed."

South Sudan is also home to many cattle keepers who sometimes raid each others animals They arm themselves to protect their animals.

LT. GEN. ANDREW KUOL NYOUN CHAIRPERSON, SOUTH SUDAN'S SMALL ARMS CONTROL "We have been in war for 40 years and in all these wars whether when we were in one Sudan, civilians have been acquiring arms and these arms have not been collected."

The African Union Peace and Security Council says it's now working on a protocol to silence guns in Africa by next year. Guns from South Sudan also find their way into other East African countries.

RT. BRIG. GEN. CHRISTO FATAKI EAST AFRICAN REGIONAL CENTER ON SMALL ARMS "We have identified that the proliferation of small arms and light weapons is the cause of fragility and therefore we have to address the issue of fragility in South Sudan."

Juba hopes international support will be followed by the collection of light weapons and small arms from the civil population. But Sebit Charles believes he should only be disarmed if the program is for the whole country. He worries being disarmed will leave him vulnerable to those who still have weapons PATRICK OYET, CGTN, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN.