Title: Government aims to monitor arms manufacturers, importers
13 February 2001, UN-IRIN Ghana is putting in place a mechanism to monitor the operations of local gun manufacturers and importers in order to curb the proliferation of small arms, the Ghana News Agency on Saturday quoted Minister of the Interior, Malik Yakubu, as saying. "We will take a critical look at the whole process of licensing gun manufacturers and importers as well as the purchase, registration, possession and use of guns in the country," he said. Yakubu said a number of manufacturers were licensed to produce only short guns, hunting guns and some pistols but not assault weapons. He said the effort to control the use of arms was in response to an upsurge in violent crimes in the country. It is also part of an initiative by the Economic Community of West African States to retrieve illegal weapons in circulation in the region.