NDC gave permit for importation of arms - Minister

The Government has denied claims by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that it approved the recent importation of a large cache of arms into the country.

The NDC, in a recent statement, raised the alarm that the Akufo-Addo Administration had authorised the importation of the weapons at a time the country was grappling with the threat of terrorism.

But Information Minister, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, told journalists in Accra on Thursday that the permit was signed by the then Deputy Minister of the Interior, Mr James Agalga, under the Mahama Administration, on 5th January, 2017.

Quoting from the letter, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said: “The permit granted the importer permission to import twenty thousand cases of five hundred pieces of shotgun cartridges, four thousand pieces of hunting shotguns and five hundred boxes of percussion caps.”

“It is curious that after the election of 2016, two days to the handing over on the 5th of January, at a time of the transition, this permit was issued on the blind side of everyone.”

Mr Oppong Nkrumah, however, said as the consignment arrived it was duly inspected in accordance with standard practice and had been delivered at a designated storage area.

“The state security agencies are ensuring that the consignment does not get into the hands of unauthorised persons” he added.