GIS trains 146 officers in weapon safety and armoury management

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) recently held a two-day training seminar for 146 officers, focusing on weapon safety and armoury management. The initiative, spearheaded by the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Samuel Basintale Amadu, aims to bolster operational discipline, accountability, and national security. The training was crucial to protect officers, safeguard state-owned weapons, prevent firearm and ammunition loss, and maintain public confidence in the service.

Participating officers, including selected Regional and Sector Commanders, engaged in practical sessions on safe handling, storage, issuance, and tracking of firearms and ammunition. The seminar was organized in collaboration with experts from the Ghana Armed Forces, the Ghana Police Service, and the Small Arms Commission of Ghana.

DCOP Isaac K. Asante, Armorer General of the Ghana Police Service, emphasized the importance of proper weapon management for professionalism, discipline, and operational readiness. He underscored the risks of weak inventory controls, poor record-keeping, and inadequate supervision of weapons. Asante urged commanders to maintain accurate registers, conduct regular inspections, and enforce strict procedures for firearm and ammunition issuance and return, ensuring every weapon and round of ammunition remained account for and traceable to a responsible officer.

Lieutenant Colonel Frank Tetteh-Kumah, Commander of the Ghana Armed Forces' 851 Ammunition and Explosives Ordnance Regiment, also addressed the participants, outlining standard operating procedures for military armoury management. He explained the Armed Forces' stringent systems for weapons and ammunition receipt, storage, issuance, inspection, maintenance, and disposal.