President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has charged the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons to also focus its attention on locally manufactured arms.
The President made the call when the Commission paid a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House in Accra.
“There is an aspect of the management of small arms that we don’t seem to pay sufficient attention to, and that is the domestic manufacturers of arms.
“There is the tendency to think that all the arms that are proliferated in our country are smuggled or brought in from across the borders. In fact, our own domestic facilities for manufacturing are not very sophisticated, but they exist and they are part of the security architect of our country.
“We don’t seem to have enough focus on them and the measures that we need to take to control their proliferation and existence… It has to be very much part of your mandate,” the President said to the Board members.
On his part, Board Chairman of the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Dr. Frimpong Manso said the Commission has put in place programmes to prevent, combat and eliminate the proliferation of illicit arms.
He also noted that there are measures to ensure Ghana’s compliance with obligations under the ECOWAS Convention law and any other international instrument on small arms and light weapons.
Dr. Frimpong Manso observed that it is time to review the current Arms Control legislation, noting that the Commission is currently taking steps in that direction and will in due course present a draft Bill on Arms and Ammunition through for consideration.
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