According to gunpolicy.org, the estimated total number of guns both licit and illicit held by civilians in Ghana in the year 2017 amounted to 2,280,000. The increase in criminal activities such as armed robbery, drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping and assassination has been closely linked to the proliferation of illicit weapons and the misuse of small arms.
Senior Programs Officer at the Small Arms Commission, Leornard Tettey explains why the proliferation of illicit small arms exists, posing a threat to the peace and security of the country.
Speaking to Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, he outlines certain reasons that account for the proliferation of illicit arms in Ghana.
He begins by stating that illicit small arms get into the country when certain unscrupulous people divert the weapons to people who are not authorized to have the weapons.
“The United Nations estimates that over 40% of arms which are illicit global arms normally come through the illicit market through diversion. The diversion is that we have purchased arms for a certain market but we use unapproved means and divert weapons to some other people.
So you will ask yourself how the AK-47 gets to a crime scene. In Ghana, we do not produce AK-47. You ask yourself where do all these criminals get this sophisticated pump-action weapons from? So it means that someone has diverted these arms to the extent that it has gotten to us”.
He noted that some people also steal weapons meant for the security personnel. While he makes known that in other jurisdictions “we have policemen and soldiers who have been trained to steal weapons”, he cannot explicitly say the same for Ghana. The bottom line, however, is that illicit weapons proliferate as a result of the stealing of weapons from security personnel.
According to Leonard, weapons that have been used in a certain uprising in the West African region often go through the process known as the “conflict recycle system” whereby these weapons are recycled to be used in other countries, thereby increasing illicit arms. “People sell guns to the militia who use that to torment people. Research shows that in our West African sub-region, weapons that are used in the unrest of other West African countries are recycled in what we call the conflict recycle system. So you will notice that weapons used in the unrest of say Mali find itself in a country like Sierra Leone”, he added.
Another reason he gave for the booming illicit weapons is the presence of brokers in the transaction of illegal weapons who make sure that they make deals to keep the illicit arms business going.
He adds that some local blacksmiths have also increased the illicit weapons in the country as they have specialized in manufacturing local weapons in the country.
In all these factors, Leonard disagrees that the security agencies are to blame for this proliferation. He argues that our porous borders coupled with the very long borders which are hardly blocked by walls make it almost impossible for our security personnel and the immigration to fully cover the patrol of our borders, thereby, ensuring that people do not smuggle arms into the country.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah