2.3 million weapons circulating in Ghana

Europa

November 17, 2015 11:43 AM

Investigations indicate that out of this number, only about a million are registered with the Ghana Police Service.

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There are 2.3 million weapons circulating in Ghana, the Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons has disclosed in a preliminary investigations conducted by the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training center on their behalf.

The investigations indicated that out of this number, only about a million are registered with the Ghana Police Service.

Speaking at a Political dialogue on small armed violence at Dodowa, the board Chairman of the commission, Brigadier Gen Francis Agyemfra (RTD) said the rate at which several of such weapons are being smuggled into the country is of great security concern.“We are very much concerned about the spread of illicit arms and their possible impact on our democracy especially those that could be triggered by violence," Brigadier Gen Francis Agyemfra (RTD) said.

He added that most of these weapons, if not retrieved could cause possible armed political violence in election, which would be an indictment on the country's democracy.

"In 2016, we will witness another watershed general election as part of our democratic experiment. The entrenched positions seem to have been adopted already by the major political parties especially on the issue of the voter register.“The by- election in Talensi recently was a wake call to all of us, the security agencies, the political parties and the citizens generally .The recent recovery of assault rifles from the Bimbilla conflicts, and numerous others from various crime scenes must put all of us on the lookout for probable triggers of armed violence".He added: "the recent murder of political party activist in Asawase, a surburb of Kumasi and the recovery of locally manufactured weapons at the crime scene is yet another case in point"Brigadier Agyemfra, however, indicated that the Commission is finding ways to retrieve these illegal weapons.

The dialogue on small armed violence is part of the commission’s plans to ensure that political parties do not take advantage of weapons smuggled into the country to cause violence in 2016 election.

Europa

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