Accra, Ghana, May 21, 2019//-The gun-pulling incident at the 20th Anniversary of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) on Sunday has again brought to the fore the issue of gun control in the country.
At that event a brawl erupted between Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale camps shortly after Stonebwoy was announced the winner of ‘Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year’.
This is the fifth consecutive time he won the award. This angered Shatta Wale who has crowned himself as the Dancehall King of Ghana.
Just when Stonebwoy, who was picking up the award on the stage, was about to deliver his acceptance speech for the award, Shatta Wale started walking to him on the stage.
It was unclear what Shatta Wale’s intentions were considering the fact that the two, over the years, have hardly seen eye to eye.
There are suggestions that Shatta Wale, who was clearly disappointed after his arch-rival was announced the winner of that category, was walking up to the stage to celebrate with Stonebwoy.
Just as he approached the stage, blows started flying between Stonebwoy’s entourage and Shatta Wale’s team.
Police and security personnel could be seen rushing to stage to prevent the brawl from escalating.
Stonebwoy pulled out a gun on stage during the scuffle as some of his team members try to shield the gun.
The fight disrupted the Awards for almost 30 minutes. Some guests, including actress Jackie Appiah, rushed out of the venue.
Shortly after both camps were separated, Shatta Wale, who had already picked up two awards on the night, posted on Twitter “Don’t play with a lion like that …He dislikes to smell blood !!!”.
Meanwhile, the two artistes are currently assisting the police in investigation.
Many people are of the view that it is about time Ghana takes a critical action on the Country’s Arms and Ammunition Act 1972 (NRCD 9) law and other laws controlling the importation of guns into the country.
Recently some weapons imported into the country were inspected by the Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority at the Tema Port.
The weapons attracted and are still attracting a lot of anxiety and debate from the general public.
The opposition NDC in a statement expressed alarm over the Akufo-Addo government’s decision to permit the importation of a large cache of arms into the country at a time when the security situation and issues with political militias, have dominated public discussions.
The NDC stated that, “As if that is not fearful enough, there are further reports emerging of at least nine more containers full of weapons and apparently owned by the same person, being cleared at the port.”
In a swift reaction to set the records straight the Information Minister , Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, disclosed that a permit for the importation of some arms into the country for which the NDC was raising concerns was signed by the Mahama-led NDC government two days before it left office in 2017.
The Information Minister expressed regret that, “It is only curious, that in this instance, the people who issued this permit are the ones shouting the loudest that something untoward has happened and we think that the people of Ghana must be given this information.”
Explaining further he said, “the permit under which these arms were imported, was signed by James Agalga, MP and Deputy Minister for Interior on January 5, 2017.
So this permit we are talking about, which allowed these persons to import these cache or arms legally into the country, was issued on the 5 January 2017…and we find it strange that the very persons who issued the permit for the importation of these arms will today turn around and say the Akufo-Addo administration has issued permits and therefore has to take the security situation of this country a lot more seriously than it is doing now.”
In spite of the assurance given by the police that the service together with other security agencies would continually be vigilant and ensure that the country is secured, some security analysts believe that with happenings at the country’s northern border in mind, certain categories of weapons should not be allowed into the country.
By Oppong Baah, African Eye Report
