Private legal practitioner and social commentator Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers has called on the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, to extend the country's gun amnesty programme to facilitate the retrieval of more unlicensed firearms.
The nationwide Gun Amnesty Programme, spearheaded by the Ministry of the Interior and the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons, ended on January 30, after recovering 4,038 unregistered and illicit firearms.
According to the legal practitioner, the number of illegal weapons recovered under the programme remains insignificant compared to the large quantity of unauthorized firearms believed to be in circulation across the country.
Speaking on Accra-based TV3's New Day programme on Wednesday, June 24, Brako-Powers said the government should not be satisfied with the number of weapons retrieved.
"The Small Arms Commission said that there are almost about 2.3 million arms in circulation and out of the number, 1.2 million are unauthorized. They have been able to retrieve 4,000. That's scary. Four thousand out of 1.2 million unauthorized arms. What are we sitting here for?" he questioned.
He argued that the objective of the amnesty initiative should be to remove as many illegal weapons as possible from circulation rather than limiting the exercise to a specific period.
According to him, extending the programme would provide another opportunity for individuals possessing unlicensed firearms to voluntarily surrender them without fear of prosecution.
"You must extend the gun amnesty programme because the issue is not about limited time. The issue is about retrieving the unauthorized arms in circulation. We should not be happy because about 4,000 guns or unlicensed arms have been retrieved," he stated.
Mr Brako-Powers further urged the authorities to intensify public education and encourage citizens in possession of illegal weapons to take advantage of the programme if it is reopened.
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