In December last year, the government launched a nationwide Gun Amnesty Programme (GAP), which directed citizens in possession of holding illicit or unregistered firearms the chance to surrender them without facing arrest or prosecution. Initially set for December 1, 2025 – January 15, 2026, it was later extended to January 30, 2026 due to strong public interest.

About 2 months after the end of the exercise, the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, revealed that over 4,000 firearms had been voluntarily surrendered by civilians under the GAP.

Speaking during an appearance on Sunday, March 15, the Minister indicated that, before the official launch of the programme, security agencies had already recovered about 11,000 firearms from civilians . But the launch became a window for more people to give up their firearms to escape the legal consequences during the amnesty window.

“That’s why we came in with the amnesty. And when we rolled out the amnesty period, the statistics showed that we were able to retrieve over 4,000 guns in the hands of civilians,” he stated.

What happens to the firearms?

He added that the firearms would be catalogued and labelled by the authorities before being destroyed.

The Minister indicated that the amnesty programme forms part of a broader government strategy to tackle the spread of illegal firearms and strengthen public safety across the country.

He noted that removing unlicensed weapons from circulation is crucial in supporting the work of security agencies in addressing violent crime.

When was the programme launched?

The initiative was first declared on November 18, 2025, and took effect on December 1, 2025, as part of efforts to address the persistent gun-related violence across the country.

The Commission announced in a statement, “After 30th January, 2026, security agencies will intensify enforcement operations, and any person found in possession of an unregistered or illicit firearm will be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law”.

Meanwhile, the Greater Accra Region is leading in the number of firearms retrieved under the Gun Amnesty Programme. Executive Secretary of NACSA, Dr Adam Bonaa, disclosed this information in an engagement with the National Chief Imam on Friday, December 26.

He noted, “The Greater Accra Region is one of the areas where most of the weapons we have collected are coming from. It is currently leading in terms of arms surrendered under the amnesty programme, with the support of the security commanders”.

Dr Adam Bonaa’s meeting with the Chief Imam forms part of efforts to create awareness of the ongoing programme within the Muslim community. The illegal possession of small arms remains a pressing challenge in the country.

How the firearm surrendring was done or expected to be done

Also, on the gun, Minister Muntaka revealed during a session with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament in Accra, on Tuesday, 30 September, in response to questions on firearm regulation and monitoring, announced that gun registration, which is currently done manually, will be digitalised to make it easily accessible and less daunting for citizens.

In a detailed explanation, he broke down what measures the Ministry intends to put in place.

He said, “So this is what is going to happen: You register, and we have you in the registry. In the registry, we have your contact number and all your details. So, three months before expiry, we will send you a notification that your license will expire on 31st December. And you no longer need to walk to any CID office where you have to join a queue to pay for the renewal.

Because the databases will be talking to each other, and over the one year, we will have recorded no criminal activities about the person we granted the license to hold the firearm, you will be able to pay through your MoMo or using your bank details. You can renew it immediately without any struggle.

“Many people even tend to forget that the time has come for them to renew it. Maybe along the line, they just see the gun and say, “Hey, when was the last time I renewed this?” So we want to digitalise this, and by the grace of God, when we are done, by the close of the year, worst case, by the close of the year, all these things will be digitalised. It will give people the opportunity to do the renewal online without necessarily having to walk to the Police Headquarters.

However, Mr Muntaka added that gun owners flagged for criminal activity during the renewal period will not be allowed to complete the process online.

“The only thing is that if there’s a criminal record over the period when you want to renew, it may deny you, and that may require that you come physically. But it also helps us. Even if you change address; because we are going to link it to your Ghana Card, we will be able to tell that Maka has a gun, has not renewed it over this period, and has changed his address from Asar to Bima. We will be able to track him and either retrieve the gun from him or get him to renew his license”, he continued.

Meanwhile, in September this year, Ghana strengthened its global stance against nuclear weapons. Ghana joined sixty-nine (69) other nations in efforts to reduce and ultimately eradicate dangerous weapons, particularly atomic bombs, from the world.