The Ministry of the Interior and the Ghana Police Service have started destroying over 2,000 firearms surrendered or seized under the government’s gun amnesty programme, signalling the start of a tougher crackdown on illegal weapons in the country.
The exercise, which follows international standards for disposing of firearms, is meant to take unlicensed weapons permanently out of circulation and shore up national security.
Data from the Ministry of the Interior shows that more than 4,000 unlicensed firearms were handed in during the eight-week amnesty window, a period that allowed gun owners to surrender illegal weapons without fear of prosecution.
Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, speaking at a ceremony at the Ghana Police Training School in Accra on Thursday, July 9, said destroying the weapons would stop them from being diverted, misused, or falling into the hands of criminals.
“The conclusion of the Gun Amnesty Programme marked the end of a period of voluntary compliance. We have now entered a phase of full enforcement of the post-gun amnesty measures,” he said.
Debrah gave an assurance that government would keep resourcing security agencies to carry out intelligence-led operations to track down and retrieve illegal weapons nationwide.
He warned that anyone still holding an unlicensed firearm would face the full weight of the law.
