Ghana: Gun Amnesty Takes Off – Surrender All Unregistered Arms – – Interior Minister

The Minister for the Interior, Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has renewed calls for people in possession of illicit arms to voluntarily hand them over without fear of arrest and prosecution.

He also appealed to those in legal possession of such arms and did not need them any longer to take advantage of “the window of opportunity” to surrender them to the authorities.

Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak renewed the call when he briefed a section of the Gun Amnesty Campaign in a meeting on Monday.

The campaign, which started on December 1, is scheduled to end on December 16, and forms part of broader measures to check the proliferation of illicit arms in the country.

The Gun Amnesty also bans the use of firearms during traditional festivals, importation and sales of arms.

“The ministry urges all citizens who possess unregistered or illicitly held firearms to take advantage of this amnesty and surrender their arms. The Ministry for the Interior is committed to working together to keep Ghana safe and free from gun-related violence. Furthermore, the ministry is appealing to all Ghanaians to support this initiative and join us in our efforts to build a more secure and prosperous society,” Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak explained.

The government has set up collection points across the country manned by trained personnel to take custody of the surrendered arms and account for them.

The exercise is being carried out with a vigorous media campaign to raise public awareness and support for the implementation of the exercise, which offers a window of opportunity for citizens to voluntarily surrender unregistered or illicit firearms in their possession.

The Interior Minister also noted that there were about 449 hotspots across the country and many of the cases bordered on chieftaincy with others being land-related, resulting in the buildup of arms in such areas.

He has, therefore, urged the media to collaborate with the government to ensure a smooth and successful exercise to create a safe and peaceful society.

The minister described the Gun Amnesty exercise as “a critical national initiative aimed at reducing the proliferation of illicit arms in the country.”

“After broad consultations with the Ghana Police Service, the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons, our security agencies, traditional leaders, religious organisations, and the government have resolved to declare a Gun Amnesty, a bold and compassionate initiative to reduce illicit firearms in the country,” the Interior Minister added.

Moreover, the minister emphasised that after the expiration of the Gun Amnesty period, the security agencies would conduct a search to retrieve all illegally acquired firearms and prosecute the offenders.

He said compensations would be paid to informants and whistleblowers for providing information for the retrieval of illicit firearms.

By Ghanaian Times.