By Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo, GNA
Accra, May 11, GNA — Colonel Daniel Atobrah Bondah, Port Security Manager at the Tema Port, has proposed the establishment of a Joint Port Arms Control Unit at Ghana’s seaports to strengthen inter-agency coordination and combat the growing threat of small arms smuggling by sea.
The proposal was made during discussions at the Maritime Action Platform where security experts and stakeholders examined operational challenges associated with arms trafficking through the maritime domain.
The seminar highlighted the increasing use of maritime routes by criminal networks for the smuggling of weapons and ammunition into the sub-region.
Maritime transportation has been identified as accounting for approximately 90 percent of global trade, making ports attractive targets for smugglers, pirates and transnational organised crime syndicates.
Colonel Bondah, made the call in a presentation from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), revealing that between October 2020 and November 2024, at least four major arms interception cases were recorded at the Port of Tema.
The intercepted weapons included pistols, assault rifles, magazines, and ammunition concealed in containers falsely declared as personal effects, household goods, or vehicles.
According to him, some of the intercepted containers originated from the United States and Turkey and were linked to periods close to national elections, raising concerns about potential security implications.
The Port Security Manager stressed that having joint ports arms control units at national ports would strengthen collaboration and coordination between agencies in charge of maritime security and countering small arms proliferation.
He noted that effective collaboration among agencies such as the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Ghana Navy, the Police, Immigration, National Security, the Narcotics Control Commission, and the Ghana Maritime Authority remained critical to strengthening port security.
He added that the maritime environment was a target for smugglers, pirates, terrorists, and other transnational organised crime syndicates, and that security threats in the maritime ecosystem impact local, regional, and global port facilities negatively.
Colonel Bondah noted that the GPHA was mandated by law (GPHA Act 1986) to plan, build, develop, manage, maintain, operate and control ports in Ghana, adding that it is the lead agency for port facility safety and security in Ghana, stressing that “the port is both an economic and a security zone”.
He said addressing the challenges of small arms smuggling by sea was key to GPHA operations at the Port of Tema and national security, adding that the GPHA collaborates with other state agencies to secure port facilities against small arms smuggling and ensure the safety of vessels, cargo, seafarers and port users.
GNA
Edited by Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo, GNA