A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) communications team, Dr. Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, has urged the incumbent government to be wary and take action about the increasing rate of arms in the hands of wrongful individuals.
He cited the alarming number of individuals in possession of illegal firearms, indicating that it calls for stringent action to curb it first-hand.
Speaking on Angel Morning Show(AMS), on Wednesday,November 19,2025 following the “Gun Amnesty” initiative, he called for urgent action to track down and seize these illegal weapons.
Dr. Boakye Danquah criticized the government’s approach, asserting that simply encouraging individuals to return illegal arms is ineffective. “No one who possesses illegal arms will voluntarily give them up,” he noted.
He highlighted troubling statistics indicating that approximately 1.1 million people in the country hold illegal arms, while 2.3 million have legal firearms and could not fathom why only 1% of Ghana’s total population have licensed firearms.
The NPP official called on the Interior Ministry to disclose specific locations where illegal arms are prevalent and to provide data on licensed firearm holders.
He pointed out that many individuals with illegal weapons are involved in the mining sector and referenced a recent incident where a chief was shot on his farm, underscoring the dangers posed by such firearms.
Dr. Boakye-Danquah noted that some of the illegal arms in circulation are more advanced than those possessed by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
He also voiced frustration at the lack of comprehensive data from the Interior Minister, especially with an amnesty period for arms return set to begin on December 1, which promises no prosecution for those who comply.
“What are you saying? they (Interior Ministry) should stop that because it is a game of chess, they should go and clamp down, pick up all the illegal arms as they know where these arms are.
“We have 2.3 million people in possession of licensed arms in Ghana here, why, is the country a war zone? So this tells you the country is not safe,” Mr. Boakye-Danquah said.
Source: Opare Christabel
