Baffour Dokyi Amoa, a leading member of the Civil Society Organization for small arms, International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), has pleaded with the media to put in more effort to educate Ghanaians on the possession and registering of small arms.
In an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, he noted that some Ghanaians have in their possession, small arms that have not been registered by the police and as such this poses a problem to us as a country.
Speaking on why some may be reluctant to register their weapons, he stated: “Some people may be reluctant to register their arms probably because they stole the arm. Why will anyone license an arm they steal? Another reason may be that one with a gun may have possessed it before coming into the country. In such situations, certain arms may need the approval of the Minister before it can be used in the country. However, some people do not want to go through such a process. The black market of arms also prevents people from licensing their arms”.
Commenting on how we can address this issue, he called on the media to intensify its efforts in educating the public on arms and its related issues.
“We must all come together and help the police because there is no gun specifically designed to kill either NPP members only or the NDC members only. The media must embark on an education campaign on arms.
From now on, we must continue with our education efforts to tell people to follow what the law says and that will bring peace”, he said.
A baseline survey conducted by the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCSALW) in 2014, showed that about 2.3 million arms were in the hands of adult civilians.
Out of that number, only 1.2 million, representing 53 per cent, were registered, with 47 per cent unaccounted for, while an assessment of the registered guns in Ghana revealed a disturbing situation where the licenses of majority of registered guns were not renewed annually as mandated by law.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah
