A two-day sub-regional meeting on Arms Control has opened in Accra with a
call on ECOWAS States to share their success story in disarmament with
the international community. The Regional Development Programme
Manager of Oxfam-Great Britain, Samuel Musa who made the call, stressed
the need to build the capacities of civil society organizations to
better manage local conflicts and improve the living conditions of the
people. He said the forum will afford the participants who are from
Ghana, Gambia, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Nigeria to review
illicit trade in small arms, poverty and other recurring threats to Security and Development.
He commended the National Commission on Small Arms in Ghana, Mali and
Senegal for working effectively with civil society groups like WANEP
and WANNSA in sustaining the campaign to get UN Member States to adopt
an arms trade treaty. The President of WAANSA, Baffour Dokyi-Amoa said
it is worthy to note that the review meeting is taking place in Ghana,
with the country’s elections just a few months away. He asked
politicians in the sub-region to avoid acts which can easily result in
violence, due to the difficulties involved in controlling conflicts.
Mr. Dokyi-Amoa urged civil society groups to put in place programmes
that will redirect the energies of young people into productive
ventures. He acknowledged the role of the Foundation for Security and
Development in Africa, FOSDA, in organizing sporting competitions for
the youth. The Director of Human Resource at the Ministry for the
Interior, Romeo Adu-Tutu, announced that West African countries are
harmonizing their laws on the manufacture and use of small arms and
light weapons.
He said efforts to attract increased foreign direct investment will
elude West Africa if small arms are used to perpetuate conflicts. Mr.
Adu-Tutu called on the international community to support ECOWAS member
states to make it difficult for small arms to be smuggled across the
borders.
