Key Member of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), Baffour Dokyi Amoa, has warned that the rapid increase of unlicensed small arms in the country may pose a threat to Ghana’s electoral process come December 2020.
According to him, the estimated number of unlicensed arms is almost the number of licensed arms in the country.
In an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, he stated: “We do not have to wait for violence to strike. Just look at the happenings during the voters’ registration. Don’t you think if there is a small misunderstanding, someone can just pull out a gun and hurt another? So it is a cause for concern”.
Speaking on why there is proliferation of these illegal arms in the country, Baffour Dokyi Amoa stated a number of points such as the history of Coup D’états in West Africa, the manufacturing of arms by blacksmiths, among other things as the causes of this phenomenon.
Per his view, while we cannot emphatically state that illicit small arms will play a role in violence at the December polls, it is important that we pray that such things do not occur. He called on all to preach the peace message ahead of the 2020 elections. “We must pray for the EC and the political parties so that they gear the country in such a way that there will be a peaceful election”, he added.
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
