Two raise concern about missing weapons

Page 28: September 8, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
TWO leading voices on security matters in the country have expressed fears of widespread leakage in the armouries of state institutions.
Speaking in separate interviews with the Daily Graphic in Accra, Dr Kwesi Aning of the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Training Centre and Mr Emmanuel Sowatey of the National Peace Council, said there was therefore the need to set up a broader panel of experts, including representatives of civil society organisations, to deal with the menace.
They agreed on the view that there were too many hot spots in the country and the matter needed to be treated with all the urgency it deserved and called for the inclusion of matured and responsible civil society representatives on any investigations team to deal with the alleged disappearance of weapons in state institutions.
They also said the investigations should not be focused on the police alone but should include all security agencies, the Forestry Commission, and licensed importers of weapons.
Dr Aning, who is the head of Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution of the Kofi Annan Centre, said there had been a long history of leakage in official state armouries since time immemorial and the problem keeps recurring.
He said the investigations should look at the procedures in checking the stocks of weapons and the regulations regarding the collection and retrieval of weapons from officers.
Dr Aning said the Arms and Ammunitions Act provided the detailed procedures in keeping weapons, collecting them and accounting for them.
He, however, said if there were leakages in the system, then the Act would have to be reviewed.
Dr Aning said when reports of the missing weapons made everyone in the society highly insecure, especially in an election year when elections had been tagged as “do or die” and “mother of all elections”.
For his part, Mr Sowatey, who is a research officer at the National Peace Council, said the security agencies and all licensed weapons importers must abide by the international stockpiling management principles to help deal with the leakage in the system.
He said finding the motive for the theft of the weapons was also important, if the problem was to be resolved, citing the issue of whether the weapons were stolen for robbery, tribal conflicts, protection or whatever reason.
He said everyone must be interested in such matters, especially the investigations, because the outcome assured the citizenry of their security.
Mr Sowatey said the matter also required the Attorney-General’s Department and the Judicial Service to sit up in dealing with such issues because the slow process of the judicial system discouraged people from reporting such crimes.
He said the National Action Plan on Small Arms was already in place and it behoved all to play their part to deal with the problem.
“Being an election year, everyone must come on board to ensure that there is peace and sanity before the elections,” he said.
Fortunately, Mr Sowatey said, the Code of Conduct for Political Parties abhorred the use of arms and enjoined political parties not to seek the release of any suspect in connection with arms.
He identified smuggling of arms from neighbouring countries, leakage in the state armouries, registered but not renewed licenses, local manufacturing and licensed importers as the source of illicit arms in the country.
Mr Sowatey said Ghanaians could, therefore, help nip the sources of supply in the bud by reporting such illegal dealings with the security agencies.
They said the investigative panel must also establish the motive for the theft, supply and demand for such weapons.
They said identifying with the motive for the arms deals would help outline a major programme to assure the populace of their safety and security, and thereby remove their trust in guns.
“The presence or the perceived presence of weapons anywhere heightened tension and insecurity in the society, and undermined any peace process as people use it to threaten and intimidate others,” they said.
They commended the Police Administration for the swift response in investigating the matter and suggested that independent persons should be included on the panel.
They also called on the accuser to avail himself before the committee as people oftentimes made allegations but refused to testify before the investigative panel.