The government has declared a six-week amnesty to remove illicit firearms from circulation and also strengthen the country’s arms control regime.
The exercise would begin from December 1, 2025 to January 15, 2026.
The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, who announced this at a press conference in Accra yesterday, said persons in possession of unregistered or illegally acquired weapons should surrender them during the period, without fear of arrest, interrogation or prosecution.
To ensure nationwide access and encourage compliance, he said designated collection centres for the amnesty would be established in all districts staffed by trained amnesty officers across the country, who would receive the weapons discreetly and safely.
Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak said once the amnesty ended, security agencies would intensify swoops, searches and border enforcement operations to recover illicit firearms and arrest offenders.
“Those who refuse this window of grace will be treated as criminals. The consequences will be firm and uncompromising,” he warned, and indicated that the country was at a critical point in its fight against gun-related violence, with illicit arms increasingly finding their way into homes, workplaces, schools and at traditional events.
Participants in the media briefing
“Every illicit firearm in circulation is a silent threat. At any moment, it can destroy lives and families forever.
We cannot continue to bury our loved ones while the tools of violence remain unchecked,” Alhaji Mohammed- Mubarak emphasised, and announced the temporary suspension of the importation, sale, registration and licensing of firearms throughout the six-week period.
He said the suspension would allow the ministry to clean up its records, audit existing licences and transition to a fully digital system that would allow the public to verify the legitimacy of gun dealers and firearm serial numbers online.
“We are not going to be licensing any new person during the six weeks. We want to take stock of those who already have licences, as we digitalise all firearm management processes at the ministry,” he said.
The Minister for the Interior further added that a new digital platform would link owners of firearm, licensed dealers and Criminal Investigations Department (CID) offices to a central database accessible to security agencies nationwide.
That, he explained, was because the current paper-based system was vulnerable to human interference, fake receipts and fraudulent registrations.
Festivals
He said the ministry was engaging chiefs and traditional authorities to document all persons authorised to discharge firearms during cultural events and conduct background checks on them.
“We have seen too many instances where people die during celebrations. We are appealing to our traditional authorities to keep stock of all their arms and comply with the temporary silence,” he said.
As part of the measures, Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak said a temporary ban would also be placed on the use of firearms during traditional festivals and celebrations.
In that regard, he indicated that only trained persons and those certified by the ministry would be permitted to use firearms during traditional activities.
He said investigations revealed weaknesses in the licensing regime for certain weapons, particularly pump-action guns, which, he said, were often registered without the rigorous background checks required for sidearms.
“We found massive abuse in pump-action gun registration because it had been decentralised.
We are tightening this to minimise human interference,” he stated, adding that enhanced border patrols, joint security operations and strict dealer certification processes would accompany the amnesty to curb arms trafficking and illegal sales.
