Interior Minister reveals seized guns from Kantanka Security were unregistered weapons
Ghana’s Interior Minister has disclosed that authorities have confiscated a substantial quantity of firearms and ammunition from the Kantanka private security outfit implicated in last Sunday’s shooting tragedy at Kwabenya, with investigations revealing that the company was operating well outside its legal parameters.
Speaking to listeners on Joy FM on Tuesday morning, June 23, 2026, Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak outlined the discoveries made during the seizure operation: handguns, pump-action shotguns and extensive quantities of ammunition — a weapons cache that split between items possessing proper licensing documentation and those bearing none whatsoever.
The presence of unregistered weaponry among the confiscated arsenal represents a fundamental breach of the regulatory framework that governs private security enterprises in Ghana.
That violation, combined with other infractions, prompted the government to strip Kantanka of its operating licence.
“I have seen side arms, I have seen pump actions, I’ve seen a lot of ammunition, some are registered, some are not registered, and all that is an infraction of the regulation that establishes the private security organisation.
These are the reasons why we have to revoke their licence while we go deep into investigations to establish why they had to do all that,” the minister stated.
The shooting itself unfolded against the backdrop of an inheritance dispute engulfing the Christo Asafo Church following the September 2025 death of Apostle Kwadwo Safo.
A court order had been issued to prevent any succession ceremony from taking place at the church premises — a ruling that prompted police to position officers at the location to maintain order and prevent unauthorised gatherings.
Yet the organisers of the contentious installation sidestepped police oversight by relocating the event away from the church grounds to a private residential compound at Kwabenya belonging to Israel Kwadwo Safo Akofena.
By the time authorities realised the venue had changed and moved to track down the gathering, gunfire had erupted.
“There was a court injunction to prevent something from happening in the church, and the police were on the ground, the regional police command were there in their numbers,” Mubarak recalled.
“Then I’m told that along the line, they heard that they’ve changed the venue and they were trying to locate where they were, when this incident happened.”
The minister expressed dismay that what he had hoped would remain a family matter settled through legal channels instead spiralled into violence on the streets.
The Interior Minister also highlighted that Kantanka’s conduct flagrantly violated the licensing conditions under which private security firms are permitted to operate.
The regulations explicitly forbid the use of firearms by security personnel and mandate strict adherence to prescribed uniforms and operational protocols.
“The very licence that we gave them was supposed to be used [properly], the private company has a guideline, there is a prescribed uniform, there is a firm instruction that you don’t use firearms, now we realise that they are using a different uniform, they are using firearms which is against the regulation that established private security organisations,” Mubarak explained.
As a result, the government has formally revoked the company’s operating authorisation and launched a comprehensive investigation designed to identify and prosecute those responsible for the violations and the violence that ensued.
Nine individuals have been arrested thus far, including Israel Kwadwo Safo Akofena, with additional suspects still being pursued as inquiries continue.
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