The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, has disclosed that more than 4,000 firearms have been voluntarily surrendered by civilians under the government’s gun amnesty programme.
He explained that before the official amnesty period began, security authorities had already retrieved about 11,000 firearms from civilians, and the introduction of the amnesty encouraged many more individuals to hand over their weapons.
Speaking in an interview with an Accra-based television station on Sunday, March 15, 2026, the minister indicated that the programme had yielded significant results.
“That’s why we came in with the amnesty. And when we rolled out the amnesty period, the statistics showed that we were able to retrieve over 4,000 guns in the hands of civilians,” he said.
Mr. Mubarak added that the firearms collected are currently being documented and marked by security agencies ahead of their eventual destruction.
He noted that the gun amnesty forms part of the government’s broader strategy to reduce the proliferation of illegal arms and strengthen public safety across the country.
The minister further stated that the programme has helped remove several unlicensed weapons from circulation, supporting ongoing efforts by security agencies to combat violent crime and improve community security nationwide.
As part of efforts to increase participation, the Ministry of the Interior extended the Gun Amnesty Programme on January 17, 2026, to January 30, 2026. The initiative, which was first announced on November 18, 2025, took effect on December 1, 2025, and was initially scheduled to end on January 15, 2026.
