The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) has retrieved more than 3,000 pieces of arms left from the civil war in its capital of Kinshasa in a compensatory campaign of decommission, the authorities has announced.
Ngoyi Mulunda, head of a transformation program for peace known as PAREC, urged all holders of the arms to hand them over in exchange for 100 U.S. dollars each. Two weeks ago, 1,120 pieces of arms were collected in the city.
Since the campaign was launched last month, most of the arms were surrendered by women as men in possession of them feared to make public appearances, although the authorities have repeatedly pledged not to identify anybody.
The arms-for-dollar campaign, which was originally planned for 10 days, has been extended to 30 days.
Mulunda said on Wednesday the operation will cover all the four districts of the capital city as a step to fight criminal activities. Part of the collected arms will go to the logistics department of the army, while the rest will be destroyed, according to the PAREC chief.