A little fewer than 1.1 million illicit weapons in the hands of civilians remain unregistered in Ghana after the Interior Ministry’s weapons amnesty.
Minister for the Interior, Prosper Bani, has, therefore, warned that anyone found to have possession of any of those weapons will be arrested and dealt with according to the law.
Following the end of the weapons amnesty window, only about 1,800 of the 1.1 million unregistered weapons were turned in voluntarily by their civilian owners for registration and formalisation.
In July this year, the National Small Arms Commission (NSAC) destroyed 1,300 illegal arms in the country but warned that there were still more than 1.1 million of such firearms and light weapons that might be in wrong hands. The guns included locally made single- and double-barrelled shotguns, locally made and imported pistols, pump action guns and local mortars.
It is estimated that there are 2.3 million weapons in civilian hands in Ghana, with only 1.2 million of them formalised.
Speaking at the weapons-destruction event in July, Mr Bani warned that: “The law enforcement agencies will ensure that individuals found in possession of unlicensed weapons are arrested and prosecuted.”
<<Print>>