Two thousand, four hundred and ninety eight illicit arms went up in flames Tuesday in a government exercise aimed at eradicating illegal weapons in the country.

Speaking during the exercise at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi, Internal Security assistant minister, Simeon Lesirma said the government has proposed legislation to deal with the proliferation of illegal firearms in the country.

Speaking also at the same function function, Police Commissioner, Major General Hussein Ali attributed the proliferation of illegal firearms in the country to the lack of stable governments in neighbouring countries and called on those countries to join hands to help curb the menace.

He said the government has already started gun marking exercise and is in the process of establishing an electronic data base to help track its arms.

The police Commisiioner, said durable peace and stability cannot be achieved in the region unless deliberate efforts are made to prevent, combat and eradicate trafficking and trade in arms.

And with estimates putting the number of small arms in circulation in sub-Saharan Africa to 30 million, the exercise not only shows government's commitment in fighting illicit arms but also exposes the enormity of the task of fighting the vice.

The ceremony also marked the 9th anniversary since the signing of the Nairobi declaration on the problem of proliferation of illicit arms in the great lakes region and bordering states.

The consignment, recovered over the last two years, brings the number of arms destroyed in the country since 2003 to over twenty two thousand.