Kumasi killings calls for an audit of gun licenses – Dr Aning

Dean and Director of Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC), Dr. Emmanuel Kwesi Aning, said the recent killings in the Ashanti region calls for a thorough audit of gun manufacturing and import licenses in the country.

He believes the Kumasi shooting incidents are not necessarily a security threat to the country, but raises questions as to where the gunmen got the guns.

Dr. Aning was speaking on the Adom FM and Asempa FM current affairs program Dea-mehunu.

He observed that no foreigner brings weapons from their country into Ghana, so the guns the Chinese used in killing two Ghanaians at Obuasi, for instance, were bought from local manufacturers.

He, therefore, called on the Ministry of Interior to conduct an extensive audit of who has licenses to import guns and what classes of guns they have been licensed to import.

He thinks there is a need for a multiparty committee to evaluate gun manufacturing and import licenses as a panacea for ensuring responsible dispatch of guns in the country.

Dr. Aning, however, noted that though the Kumasi shootings are worrying, they are less of a security threat to the country than road accidents and floods from heavy down pour.

‘‘The number of people who have lost their lives in the series of gunshots in the Ashanti region does not show that we are under threat as a nation,’’ he said.

He said the number of people who dies from motor accidents, plus the deaths of property loss during heavy rain falls in parts of the country are more of a national security threat that the shootings in Kumasi.

Dr. Aning chastised politicians and the public for overly politicising national issues which leads to attitudes and practices that undermine national security.