A 15-member Board for the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapon has been inaugurated with a call on members to use their expertise to suggest innovative ways of curbing their proliferation.
Mr Ambrose Dery, the Minister of the Interior, who made the call, said the sub region was awashed with illegal small weapons, which posed threats to the region.
"These illegal weapons posed serious threat as they used them to fuel terrorism and other conflicts on the sub region," he said and called for mass education and sensitisation efforts to avert any future occurrences.”
He said though Ghana has not gotten to that yet, there was the need to guide against the peace the county was enjoying. Reverend Dr Paul Frimpong -Manso, President's nominee is the Chairman of the Board.
Members include; Mr Jones Borteye Applerh, National Commission for Small Arms and Light Weapon; Major General W. Omane Agyekum, Ghana Armed Forces; Colonel G.K.T Sam, Ghana Armed Forces, Mrs Audrey Naana Abayena, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Dominic A. Agyeman, Ministry of the Interior, Mrs Frances Mullen-Ansah, Ministry of Justice and Attorney General's Department, Mr Gabriel Nsoh Ade Agana, President's Nominee.
Others include; Mr Baffour Dokyi Amoa, Civil Society Ghana (International Action Network on Small Arms), Colonel Kwadwo Opoku, National Security Council, Commissioner of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohuno, Ghana Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Bright Oduro, Ghana Police Service, Mr Peter Clave Nantum, Ghana Immigration Service, Alhaji Seidu Iddrisu Iddisah, Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority, Mr Alex Kofi Appiah-Agyapong, Presidential Nominee.
Mr Dery said about 90 per cent of these illegal weapons were used to fuel land litigation and other crimes in Ghana and emphasised on the need for the Board to come out with concrete measures to deal with the menace.
He said the amnesty for those having unregistered weapons to register them yielded low results and urged the board members to come out with innovative ways to address the situation.
"We know the Commission is constrained with non-availability of budgetary allocation over the years and with the increment of your budget allocation, more has to be done to make the Commission's work more effective," he added.
The Minister said he was hopeful that members would bring their individual skills, knowledge and expertise on board to achieve that goal.
Mr Amoa on behalf of the Chairman of the Board, thanked the President for the confidence reposed in them to serve the country.
He said they would do their best to bring the challenges posed by illegal small arms to the barest minimum.
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