Crack whip over use of live ammunition at festivals - MP

The Member of Parliament for Prestea Huni-Valley, Robert Wisdom Cudjoe, has called for the strict enforcement of laws prohibiting the use of live ammunition during festivals and traditional ceremonies, warning that the practice has become a serious public safety and security threat.

Delivering a statement on the floor of Parliament, the MP expressed concern over what he described as the growing replacement of traditional musketry with modern firearms, including locally manufactured shotguns, pistols and assault rifles loaded with live ammunition.

According to him, the long-standing cultural practice of firing blank gunpowder to produce symbolic gun salutes during festivals and the funerals of chiefs and other distinguished personalities has been distorted, resulting in avoidable deaths and injuries.

"The traditional practice of musketry, which historically involved the use of blank gunpowder to produce symbolic gun salutes—the boom heard during festivals and the funerals of chiefs and distinguished personalities—has increasingly been replaced by the use of modern pistols, locally manufactured shotguns, and even assault rifles loaded with live ammunition," he said.

The MP warned that the dangerous trend is turning cultural celebrations into tragic events, with innocent people becoming victims of stray bullets fired under the guise of traditional gun salutes.

"This is no longer a hypothetical risk. It is an active public safety and security crisis. Citizens are losing their lives in the prime of their youth as a result of stray bullets fired during cultural and traditional celebrations," he lamented.

Mr Cudjoe therefore called on the government, security agencies and traditional authorities to strictly enforce existing laws banning the use of live ammunition at public and traditional events to prevent further loss of life.

He stressed that preserving Ghana's cultural heritage should never come at the expense of public safety and urged stakeholders to work together to ensure that traditional celebrations are conducted in a manner that protects lives and property.