Former Chief Justice and Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Sophia Akuffo, has expressed deep concerns over the proliferation of arms in the country.

She indicated that the trend is fueling a lot of vices, including illegal mining and other illicit activities.

“There are too many illegal guns in the system backing illegal mining, illegal felling of timber and smuggling. Everyone seems to be armed. There is a proliferation of arms and we should also be concerned about that,” she said.

Her call comes amid growing concerns about environmental destruction, including polluted water bodies, depleted forest cover, and reports of illegal miners invading forest reserves.

This came up during a conference on ‘Maximizing the Benefits of Ghana’s Natural Resources’ held on March 24, 2025.

“These arms are being used to perform illegality and we will reach a point where if we are not careful, the successive generation will become a bunch of rebels who have no idea of right and wrong,” he said.

She cautioned against laxity in laws which are giving rise to widespread illegalities, while demanding that the rules be strictly applied to ensure sanity in the system.

“All that we are doing is allowing the framework of law and order in our country to be chipped away till one day we find out that we are standing on air because everyone is engaged in illegality,” she said.

VPO/AE

Meanwhile, watch this captivating story of the Ghana's 100-year-old World War II veteran whose name is widely known in the Buckingham Palace, below: