A Research Fellow at the Africa Security Dialogue and Research (ASDR),Mr Emmanuel Addo Sowatey, has reiterated the need for the legalisation of smallarms manufacturing in the country in order to minimise their illegal production, as well as track and control their movement. He said because the manufacture of small arms was illegal, many manufacturers had gone underground to produce the weapons which, invariably end up in the hands of criminals for their nefarious activities. Mr Sowatey, who has done considerable research on small arms and light weapons in the West African sub-region, made the call when he shared some thoughts with the Daily Graphic, on the control of small arms in the country. He dismissed a suggestion that legalising the manufacture of small arms would encourage more people to own weapons, arguing that it would rather enable the government to identify and monitor the activities of the manufacturers. Mr Sowatey said having legalised the industry and identified the operators, the government could then initiate an alternative livelihood programme for the manufacturers by offering them incentives to produce farm implements and other tools, which could otherwise have been imported. That, he said, would give them other sources of income apart from the manufacturing of arms, thereby reducing the proliferation and smuggling of small arms. According to a recent baseline assessment on Illicit Small Arms in Ghana, conducted by the ASDR with support from Small Arms Survey, Geneva, as of 2005 there were an estimated 220,000 small arms in the hands of civilians in the country. Out of that number, 95,000 were registered, 75,000 were illegal locally-manufactured and 50,000 being illegal industrial (expired licence, trafficked or leaked). Mr Sowatey, who leaves the ASDR at the end of this month, said although some of the weapons were imported, a considerable number of them were manufactured locally. That assertion is confirmed by the ASDR baseline assessment, which indicated that blacksmiths in all the 10 regions had the skills to produce small arms. The Brong Ahafo, Ashanti and Volta regions, the document noted, stood out as "hosting a particularly high concentration of gun-producing artisans. Mr Sowatey said the tendency for people to hold arms was for self defence, particularly when they did not have a sense of assured security from the police. He said there were "war entrepreneurs" in the sub-region who thrived on conflicts by supplying small arms to the hot spots, adding that whenever demand for the weapons was high, the "war entreprerieurs" were in good business. Mr Sowatey emphasised the point that any Society with a lot of such weapons in circulation risk experiencing violence and criminal activities, situations that were worsened by high unemployment rate. He said the current spate or armed robbery attacks at petrol fillings stations, commercial centres and on the highways posed a serious threat to the nation’s security, peace and fledgeling economy. That was because the attacks put the lives of the people in danger, apart from undermining commercial activities and hampering the carting of foodstuff from the rural areas to the urban centres. Mr Sowatey said since the Europeans introduced small arms into the country in the 15th Century, there had been a revolution in conflicts, citing the civil conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone. He said it was a sense of mediocrity for anyone to think that since the conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone had not been experienced in Ghana, the security of the country was assured, stressing that at any point in time, the country should compare its security with that of developed countries where best practices existed. Mr Sowatey said the conflict in Bawku and other parts of northern Ghana, as well as chieftaincy disputes all over the country, should be a great source of worry to the nation. He said small arms had the potential to undermine the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and that underlined the relevance of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Protocol on Small Arms. Mr. Sowatey acknowledged the efforts of the government, parliament, the minority group and other bodies for the interest they had shown in the control of small arms. Asked whether the availability of small arms to many people was a security bother this election year, particularly given the hard-line manner the political parties seemed to approach the December election, Mr Sowatey said the important issue was for politicians to guide their utterances so that they did not create situations for people to arm themselves. He advised all those who owned small arms to endeavour to register their weapons with the police, while urging the public to report the activities of smugglers to the police. Source: Daily Graphic