The Ghana Police Service has been directed to instal arms registries across the country as part of measures by the government to properly control weapons. Additionally, the government is also taking steps to ensure a good stockpile management, as well as branding and tracing of official weapons, to deal with the impunity with which small arms are being used for violent crimes and conflicts in the country. The President, John Evans Atta Mills, who made this known, said, "We have committed ourselves to eliminating armed violence and the proliferation of small arms in Ghana, as well as the West African sub-region." He made the remark in a speech read on his behalf by the Minister of the Interior, Mr Cletus Avoka, at a forum on the proliferation of small arms and light weapons organised by the West Africa Action Network on Small Aims (WAANSA) - Ghana Chapter. The event also marked the inauguration of the WAANSA - Ghana Chapter, bringing to 12 the number of national chapters established under the aegis of the sub-regional network of civil society organisations committed to the fight against the proliferation of small arms. According to the Ghana Police Service, about 90 per cent of guns used by armed robbers arrested in the country were locally manufactured. The security agencies have also raised concern over the use of small arms and light weapons in conflict situations in some parts of the country. President Mills observed that conventional arms and ammunition trade and transfers were causing gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, adding that they were undermining efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), since no development was possible without durable peace and human security. He said in line with the government's efforts at dealing with the menace of small arms, the Ghana National Commission on Small Arms had been reconstituted with the view to facilitating proper gun control. "We believe in demonstrating responsibility and accountability, especially when it comes to arms importation and exportation," he said. The President gave the assurance that Parliament would soon ratify the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms, their Ammunition and other Related Materials, while pledging the government's commitment to play its role at the UN to ensure that the global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was carefully negotiated. The need to ratify that convention is expected to be tabled for discussion at the next Cabinet meeting, after which it will be forwarded to Parliament for ratification. President Mills acknowledged the role played by civil society organisations (CSOs,) particularly WAANSA, in complementing the government's efforts at dealing with small arms proliferation and assured It of the government's collaboration to help achieve peace• and security. A member of the ECOWAS Small Arms Project (ECOSAP) Advisory Board, General Seth Obeng (retd), announced that the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and other Related Materials had come into force. Eight ECOWAS members were required to ratify the convention to make it fully operational. Currently, nine of them, namely, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso; Togo, Benin, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, have ratified it. He urged Ghana to expedite action on the ratification of the convention because the nation stood to benefit immensely from it. General Obeng, who is a former Chief of the Defence Staff, stressed the need to co-ordinate policies implemented at the national level and enhance capacity and conditions within the framework of the ECOWAS Convention. The Chairman of the Ghana National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Lt Col Seth Ohene-Asare (retd), said the maintenance of peace and security could not be left entirely in the hands of state institutions, pointing out that "efforts of CSOs are very indispensable in this regard". He urged members of WAANSA - Ghana Cbapter to reflect beyond immediate parochial interest and consider the overall safety and security of the country. The President of WAANSA, Baffour Dokyi Arooa, underlined the need for stronger measures to deal with the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in view of the negative impact they had on society. "Today, for fear of being attacked, we all live in some form of 'imprisonment' - fortified high fence walls, iron bars, etc, to ward off armed robbers. It seems there is now justification for people to exchange their freedom of living for imprisonment," he remarked. Mr Amoa urged the government to initiate programmes that would help combat the proliferation of small arms and light weapons more effectively, while calling on Members of Parliament (MPs) to educate and sensitise the electorate to the dangers of the use of such weapons. The President of WAANSA - Ghana Cbapter, Mr Ken Kinney, observed that uncontrolled access to small arms had created an environment of impunity in which small arms were used to settle disagreements and stressed the need to address that development. Mr Amoa later swore the executive member of WAANSA - Ghana Chapter into office for a three-year term. Source: Daily Graphic