The Ministry of the Interior on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, announced the revocation of all existing firearm licences across the country in a wide-ranging reform of Ghana’s firearms regulatory framework.
In order to improve public safety and reinforce gun control, all gun owners will have to reapply for their licenses and go through a more stringent screening process under the new system.
The revisions, according to Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, Minister of the Interior, are required to solve flaws in the current licensing system and stop the abuse of lawfully obtained firearms.
He was speaking at a press briefing in Accra.
He claims that before licenses are issued, all candidates will need to undergo organised firearms training, drug testing, and mental health evaluations.
The Minister expressed worry that some people have threatened public safety by using permitted firearms for purposes other than those for which they were initially authorised.
“In the last few months, we have seen an increase in some individuals committing suicide with fire arms that are registered. Because of that from this afternoon, all permits that have been granted to any individual is hereby revoked.”
“We are revoking them and we are opening a window where everyone will have to come forward again to re-register their guns because we have changed the procedure. We have realised that there is a short gap in the registration procedure that we’ve been using,” he reiterated.
Mr. Mubarak also declared plans to burn over 2,000 firearms that have been seized under the national gun amnesty program or voluntarily turned in as part of the government’s attempts to tighten gun regulations.
The announcement was made a few days after the Ministry suspended Kantanka Security Services Limited’s operating licence in response to a shooting incident at Kwabenya that injured former Dome-Kwabenya MP Sarah Adwoa Safo.
The Ministry states that the suspension was brought about by alleged regulatory violations concerning the use of unapproved uniforms and the possession and use of firearms and ammunition by some security business employees while they were on duty.
The government argues that the most recent actions are a part of larger initiatives to improve public safety nationwide and tighten control over the holding of firearms.
Source: newsthemegh.com