Gov’t to publicly destroy over 4,000 surrendered weapons after national gun amnesty

The government is set to publicly destroy more than 4,000 weapons surrendered during the recently concluded national gun amnesty programme, in what officials describe as one of the country’s most significant peacetime arms disposal exercises in recent years.

Executive Secretary of the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons (NACSA), Dr Adam Bonaa, disclosed that the weapons, voluntarily handed over by individuals across the country, would soon be destroyed in line with international arms control protocols and conventions to which the West African nation is a signatory.

Speaking on the sidelines of a peace and disarmament seminar in Accra, Dr Bonaa described the number of firearms surrendered as a major breakthrough in the nation’s fight against illicit arms proliferation and gun-related violence.

“We haven’t done destruction for a while and this is a significant number of weapons in peacetime that will be destroyed,” he said.

According to him, NACSA is considering either June 25 or July 9, 2026, for the public destruction exercise, which will coincide with activities marking the United Nations Day for Weapons Destruction.

The event is expected to be held at a designated public location, with the media and members of the public invited to witness the process. NACSA has also written to the presidency, expressing hope that President John Dramani Mahama, as Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, will attend.

The nationwide gun amnesty programme, launched by the Ministry of the Interior in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service and other stakeholders, began on December 1, 2025, allowing citizens to surrender or regularise unlicensed firearms without fear of arrest or prosecution.

Originally scheduled to end on January 15, 2026, the initiative was later extended to January 30 after what authorities described as an overwhelming public response.