The Minister for the Interior, Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has ordered the immediate suspension of all registered firearm licences across the country as part of a major overhaul of Ghana’s firearms ownership and control regime.
The directive, which took effect at 12 noon yesterday, is aimed at strengthening oversight, enhancing accountability and improving national security through a comprehensive review of the country’s firearm licensing system.
Announcing the decision on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, the Interior Minister said the government had identified serious concerns within the current licensing framework, including compliance breaches and the misuse of legally registered weapons.
“Everybody in Ghana who currently holds a legitimate licence to hold a gun, today I am suspending all of it. All of it that everybody is holding,” he stated.
According to him, the suspension will enable security agencies to conduct a nationwide audit and restructuring of the firearm licensing system to ensure greater control and accountability.
Mr. Muntaka explained that the measure had become necessary following the emergence of what he described as a “new phenomenon” that poses a threat to public safety.
“Because we have realised a new phenomenon which is threatening public safety,” he noted.
The announcement comes in the wake of reports of a shooting incident involving former Dome-Kwabenya Member of Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Safo, at a property linked to Israel Safo in the Greater Accra Region.
The incident is reportedly connected to an ongoing succession dispute within the Kristo Asafo Mission following the death of its founder, Apostle Professor Kwadwo Safo, in September last year.
The dispute has resulted in competing claims over the leadership of the church and its affiliated institutions, with the matter currently before the courts.
In a statement issued after the incident, the Kwadwo Safo family alleged that Ms Adwoa Safo had visited the property to serve a court injunction during an installation ceremony involving Israel Safo when gunshots were fired.
The circumstances surrounding the incident are currently under investigation by the Ghana Police Service.
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