All guns in Ghana to bear Ecowas logo

Executive Secretary of the Ghana National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons Jones Borteye Applerh has announced that all guns in Ghana will soon bear the logo of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) as international standards demand.

He said the move is part of a wide range measures to control movement of small arms in the country. Mr. Applerh made this known on TV3’s Midday Live on Thursday, April 10.

“We are trying to put the Ecowas logo on the guns…so that when a state gun leaks, we can trace it to the source,” he said.

He said the Commission has begun registering guns within military and para-military bodies in the country and that will soon be carried out among civilians.

He bemoaned the silence of the country’s laws on the number of weapons an individual can wield, saying it stems from the fact that a review on small-arms law in Ghana was last conducted in 1972.

Ghana is, however, signing a lot of conventions and treaties, he told TV3’s Kenneth Osei Ampofo. Recent rise in crime has been attributed to proliferation in small arms and weapons.

Mr. Applerh, however, recommended that citizens must help law-enforcement agencies by volunteering information that will lead to the arrest of criminals.