As Ghana headsto the polls in December 2024 for the 9th consecutive time since 1992, FOSDA
is concerned about the rising cases of gun violence and proliferation of the small arms in the
country. Election related gun violence is set to pose a critical threat to the integrity and
peaceful conduct of the 2024 elections if not checked 2024.

FOSDA is concerned that electoral gun violence is becoming a common phenomenon and
gradually gaining a foothold in Ghana’s electoral activities. In 2012, 7 various reports of
electoral gun violence were made leading to the temporal halting of the Biometric Voter
Registration exercise in some places. For 2016, an online dossier documented the aftermath
of the general elections featuring a litany of gun related electoral violence. Likewise, the
electoral activities following the 2020 general elections were not free from gun violence;
including the 2019 Ayawaso Wuogon by-election gun violence leading to 18 injuries; gunshots
leading to disruption in registration process in Awutu Senya East Constituency in the Central
Region; gunshots at the Modark Hotel and the Constituency Collation Centre in Odododiodio
Constituency in the Greater Accra region are among the many gun related incidents reported
by the Election Security Report of 2020. These background goes to demonstrate the depth of
gun violence in Ghana’s electoral processes.

Inspite of these worrying trends gun violence in general and electoral gun violence in
particular continues to feature in major disturbances. Between June 2022 to the 3rd quarter
of 2024 FOSDAs’ media monitoring had shown that gun violence contributes close to 30% of
all violence on quarterly basis. One would have expected that following the passage of the
Vigilantism and Related Offence Act in 2019, the drivers of electoral gun violence could be
controlled, but the situation has been quite different. Recently, politicians have rather been
at the front of gun related incidents for either brandishing or acquiring guns for the sole
reason to intimidate or protect against their opponents while others have been targets of
rumored assassination attempts. Additionally, resurfacing of the unresolved chieftaincy
disputes in Bawku has sparked recent gun attacks with an estimated 9 adjoining
constituencies risking violence ahead of the December elections.

Taking the aforementioned into account, one has no choice but the question the effectiveness
of the legal regime to control the proliferation and or possession of arms in Ghana especially
when its possession is only by privilege. It is therefore not difficult to assume that there is
currently a serious arms proliferation at hand considering the growing dense report of gun
violence throughout the country.

Nonetheless, Ghana has enacted a number of legislations to curb the proliferation of small
arms and light weapons including the notable Arms and Ammunitions Act, 1962 (Act 118);
Arms and Ammunitions Decree of 1972. At the international level, the United Nations
Programme of Action on Small Arms and the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms are just two
of the numerous international agreements and treaties that Ghana has ratified. While these
laws aim to prohibit arms manufacturing, assembling, ammunitions, there are clauses that
foster possession, registrations and renewal of licensing. Indeed some scholars have argued
that “In spite of the above legal and regulatory regime, Ghana’s gun-related laws are blatantly
flouted due to ineffective monitoring mechanisms.” It is therefore not surprising that there
are mixed reports on the actual number of unregistered arms in civilian possession. Perhaps
this could be one of the enablers of the rising gun violence being experienced in the country.
The threat of violence through gun violence in the lead up to the elections is worrying since
the record shows that the phenomenon could intimidate potential voters on election day and
deter the peaceful conduct of the elections as seen in the immediate past.

Ghana’s foremost state actor in Arms Control and Disarmament (National Commission on
Small Arms) has since inception made significant efforts to control the proliferation of small
arms. Public education on the psychological effects of arms possession; law enforcement;
weapons marking to aid traceability; sensitization of sister security agencies in controlling
arms trafficking; as well as collaborating with civil society to continuously demonstrate the
negative impacts of arms possession and use.

While these initiatives represent a mix of short, medium to long term arms control measures
they have largely not prevented the gun proliferation problem. Deepening intelligence in
arms monitoring systems and reviewing Ghana Arms Laws appear to be ongoing and longterm measures to adapt.

At this critical moment, there is no better time to call for owners of arms to desist and refrain
from any form of gun related confrontations. This can only be made possible by building peace
and resorting to dialogue and negotiations.