Ghana: Millions of small arms said circulating in West Africa GHANA BROADCASTING CORPORATION RADIO 1 Thursday, March 29, 2001 It is estimated that 8 million small arms are in circulation in the West African region, with Ghana having some 40,000 small arms in illegal hands. The director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr. Emmanuel Kofi Anin, made this known when he presented a paper on enhancing the involvement of civil society in regional security at a seminar in Accra today. Marilyn Opoku Acheampong has filed this report. (Begin recording) (Acheampong) The issue of small arms proliferation on the continent is gradually posing a threat to human security. The indiscriminate use of these small arms have wreaked havoc on civil population due to their use in wars and conflicts in areas like Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Uganda. Small arms are also being used by criminal gangs for robbery. Prof Jimaboue, who is the executive director of the Center for Democratic Development, organizers of the seminar, said the seminar, which is being attended by delegates from nine West African countries, is to identify problems affecting security on the continent and chart the way forward. Dr Anin of the IEA said civil wars in Africa should not be simplistically reduced to ethnicity, tribalism, and religion since they could equally be seen as violent reactions to lack of political participation, human rights abuse, denial of access to education, and quality living conditions. According to him, civil societies can help gOpening the seminar, the minister of the interior, Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu, noted that Africa could only develop where there is a state of peace and stability. He gives his impression about the conference. (Yakubu) This is the way awareness will be brought to the civil society, and even the government, the military, and the police. There's the need for us not to take things for granted. (Acheampong) Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu said the government would continue the campaign to retrieve all illegal weapons from unauthorized hands.