Key stakeholders from across West Africa have convened in Accra for the Regional Planning Meeting for Operation KAFO VI, a critical multilateral initiative aimed at combating the illicit trafficking of firearms across borders.
The meeting, held from May 27 to 29, 2025, brings together representatives from Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, and Togo, with support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and financial backing from the Federal Republic of Germany.
Speaking during the opening session on May 27, 2025, Ghana's Minister of the Interior, Muntaka Mohamed Muntaka-Mubarak, stressed the urgency of regional collaboration in confronting the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW), which he described as both a "symptom and catalyst of instability" in the sub-region. "This meeting is not simply a planning session.
It is a call to action-a declaration that we will not sit idly by while our communities are put at risk," the Minister stated.
