GIS trains 146 officers in weapon safety and armoury management

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has trained 146 officers in weapon safety and armoury management as part of efforts to strengthen operational discipline, accountability and national security.

The Comptroller-General of Immigration, Samuel Basintale Amadu, said the training was necessary to protect officers, safeguard state-owned weapons, prevent the loss of firearms and ammunition, and maintain public confidence in the Service.

He was speaking at the opening of a two-day Weapon Safety and Armoury Management Seminar at the Ghana Immigration Centre of Excellence (GISCE) in Accra.

Mr Amadu urged participants to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to improve practices within their respective commands, stressing that proper weapon management was fundamental to professionalism, discipline and operational readiness.

The seminar, organised in collaboration with armoury management experts from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), the Ghana Police Service (GPS) and the Small Arms Commission of Ghana, brought together selected Regional and Sector Commanders.

It focused on equipping the officers with practical skills in the safe handling, storage, issuance and tracking of firearms and ammunition.

The Armorer General of the Ghana Police Service at the National Headquarters, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Isaac K. Asante, led sessions on critical armoury management procedures, drawing on his operational experience.

He highlighted the risks associated with weak inventory controls, poor record-keeping and inadequate supervision of weapons.

DCOP Asante urged the commanders to maintain accurate registers, conduct regular inspections and enforce strict procedures for the issuance and return of firearms and ammunition.

He stressed that every weapon and round of ammunition must be accounted for and traceable to a responsible officer at all times.

Lieutenant Colonel Frank Tetteh-Kumah, Commander of the 851 Ammunition and Explosives Ordnance Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces, also took participants through standard operating procedures for military armoury management.

He explained that the Armed Forces maintained strict systems for the receipt, storage, issuance, inspection, maintenance and disposal of weapons and ammunition.

He encouraged the GIS to adopt relevant aspects of these systems, particularly in physical security, access control, documentation, routine audits and command-level accountability.

He further urged the officers to treat armoury management as a continuous responsibility rather than an occasional administrative exercise.

A delegation from the Small Arms Commission of Ghana, led by its Director of Operations, Emmanuel Felix Mantey, also facilitated sessions on stockpile management and firearm safekeeping.

The sessions examined measures to prevent weapon diversion, restrict unauthorised access, improve storage conditions and ensure proper tracking of firearms throughout their lifecycle.

The Head of Intelligence of the Ghana Immigration Service, Deputy Commissioner of Immigration (DCOI) Kwasi Opoku Apau, described the seminar as timely, particularly in view of the Service’s expanding responsibilities in border and national security.

He said building officers’ capacity in weapon safety and armoury management was essential to the GIS’s ambition to become a model institution in migration and border management.

The seminar is expected to improve compliance with weapon-safety procedures, strengthen supervision across Regional and Sector Commands, and promote greater accountability in the management of firearms and ammunition.

The Ghana Immigration Service continues to undertake specialised capacity-building programmes in areas including border security, counter-terrorism, intelligence, investigations and crisis management.

Through collaboration with the Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Police Service and Small Arms Commission, the Service is drawing on inter-agency expertise to strengthen its internal systems, improve operational professionalism and support effective border management and national security.