ACCRA, Aug. 18 — The Ghanaian government promised on Monday to work through its relevant security agencies to enforce the rules set by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to regulate the import of small arms and light weapons and prevent illegal weapon trafficking.
Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak said in a speech read for him during the opening of the three-day in-country training on the Exemption Regime of the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) that Ghana remains committed to enforcing the convention and would stick to the rules established by the subregional bloc to regulate the importation of small arms and light weapons.
“The government remains firmly committed to strengthening the ECOWAS exemption regime by the full implementation of the SALW Convention on ammunition and other related materials,” Mohammed-Mubarak said in the speech.
According to him, strict adherence to the subregional rules is key to ensuring the security of member states and preventing the proliferation of illicit arms to end or at least reduce arms-related crimes, violence, and armed conflicts in the subregion.
Adeomi Abayomi, acting head for the ECOWAS Small-Arms Division, commended Ghana for its continued adherence to the subregional framework. Abayomi added that despite existing gaps in ammunition importation controls among member states, compliance with the convention across the subregion has generally been positive.
The three-day training aims to equip participants with practical knowledge of the ECOWAS Convention and guidelines for the legal importation and transfer of arms within the subregion. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
