1. AK47 is 60 years on July 6th 2007
2. Sierra Leone Ratifies ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons: July 22 2007
3. FOSDA DONATES BOOKS TO NANUMBA DISTRICT: June 19 2007
4. Ghana National Commission on Small Arms Act 736 Passed: May 18 2007
5. FOSDA Organises Workshop on Mainstreaming Human Rights in Development Work: April 30 to May 1 2007

Ghana : Fighting Small Arms Proliferation

by Sup. Francis Aboagye Nyarko

Sup. Francis Aboagye Nyarko is the acting Administrator of the National Commission on Small Arms and the Officer in Charge of the National Firearms Bureau of the Ghana Police Service.

The Ghana National Commission on Small Arms was established, with support from the UNDP-Ghana to fulfil the requirements of the ECOWAS Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Light Weapons, now the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Their Ammunition and Other Related Materials. It was also expected to work towards the effective implementation of the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (UNPoA). The ECOWAS Small Arms Programme (ECOSAP), the successor of the Programme for Coordination and Assistance for Security and Development in Africa (PCASED), would work with the national commissions in all the ECOWAS member states to implement and enforce policies aimed at controlling small arms circulation in the West African sub-region.

Small arms have become the main instrument of violence in most developing countries of which Ghana is no exception. These weapons have been directly responsible for the death of thousands of innocent citizens; it has also created thousands of internally displaced persons and refugees across the world. In Ghana, the Northern Region's multi ethnic conflicts of the 1990s and the recent 2002 chieftaincy crises increased the number of migrant unskilled labour from the conflict affected areas to places like Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Tamale.

1. Directives Opérationnelles Standard Pour La Mise En œuvre Du Programme De Controle Des Armes Legeres De La Cedeao (Ecosap)
2. Statement By Liberian Delegation To The First International Consultative Conference Of Ecowas Small Arms Programme Held In Accra, Ghana 12 – 16 February, 2007