1.1 million illicit pump-action guns, AK-47s, pistols circulating in Ghana – Arms Commission

There are some 1.1 million illicit pump-action guns, AK47s, pistols and locally manufactured arms in circulation in Ghana, the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons has disclosed.

It says these weapons cannot be accounted for.

These unaccounted-for weapons, the Commission noted, are a threat to Ghana's security.

On the sidelines of a regional conference focused on addressing the humanitarian impact of improvised anti-personal mines, the Head of the National Arms Marking Programme at the Commission, Mr Frank Boateng Asumani, told journalists:

“Currently, we have 2.3 million small and light weapons in circulation, out of which 1.2 million are legally registered and the remaining 1.1 million cannot be accounted for".

The Commission, he added, is "currently looking for funding to know the level of proliferation we have in the system".

"We are talking about AK47s, pistols, pump-action guns, and locally manufactured guns,” he clarified.